Ilya Samsonov Explains His Current Rough Stretch With Maple Leafs: 'It's Not What I Want to See'
Samsonov was pulled on Saturday after allowing three goals on four shots.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Ilya Samsonov was not at all surprised when Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled the Russian goaltender after allowing his third goal on four shots against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Right now his focus is on just trying to keep a good mindset during what has been a difficult start to the season.
"It’s not easy It’s hard to go to the bench after three shots. It’s not what I want to see," Samsonov said following the team's practice at MedStar Iceplex on Monday. "I need to stay positive and keep working hard in practice. Sometimes you have a bad situation, the most important is you learn from it."
Samsonov is 2-1-0 this season but his save percentage is down to .831. The only reason he didn't drop to .500 on the season is because Joseph Woll came on in relief and made 30 saves to help his team climb out of the 3-1 deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime.
As Samsonov has struggled, Woll has emerged and Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is no stranger to seeing one goalie rise as the other struggles.
'I think it’s proven more and more that teams require two goalies, not just to push each other, but share the workload," Keefe said. "I fully expected that was going to be the case and it’s always worked out. Obviously, you’d like to have two goalies thriving, that’s the goal.
Samsonov spent a lot of time working with goaltending coach Curtis Sanford at practice, including a lengthy discussion on the bench as the session concluded.
Right now for Samsonov, he'll have to use his battle with Woll as motivation, but take a back-to-basics approach in the technical aspects of his game.
Awarded a one-year, $3.55 million contract by an arbitrator after a season in which he beat out Matt Murray for the net in his first season with Toronto, Samsonov is on the verge of losing the net to Woll. He didn't make excuses for Kucherov's goals. He's simply trying to move forward.
"Anytime you have a game like this you have to get simple. Starting with simple moves," Samsonov said. "Most important is what is in your head, in your brain and just starting simple."
Woll was scheduled to start against the Capitals on Tuesday. What will be more telling is if Woll ends up getting another start on Thursday against the Dallas Stars. That would represent a break in the two-games Samsonov, one-game Woll pattern.
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