It's possible Ilya Samsonov will not play again until the Stanley Cup Playoffs if he's indeed the starter for Game 1.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Joseph Woll will get the assignment in goal when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed Woll will start following the team's practice on Monday.
"Woller will go in goal tomorrow, and then we'll take it from there," Keefe said.
While it's not a surprise that Woll would get one of the next two games in goal with the Leafs closing out their regular season on back-to-back nights, the lack of confirmation for a starter on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning is interesting.
With Wednesday's game expected to hold no value for either team, it's possible the Leafs could start third-stringer Martin Jones, Samsonov has struggled in each of his last two starts and keeping him away from the Lightning, a team that chased him out of the net twice this season, might be a good idea. A good showing from Woll on Tuesday against a Panthers team that is one point back of the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division could strengthen Woll's case for the playoff assignment, if the decision hasn't been made yet.
Woll got off to a terrific start to the season. As Samsonov struggled early on in, Woll excelled by posting a .916 save percentage in 15 games before sustaining a high-ankle sprain that kept him out for nearly three months. In nine games since returning from injury, Woll is 4-5-0 with an .888 save percentage in that span.
Samsonov, meanwhile, found his groove after a first half of a season that saw him placed on waivers. He went 6-1-1 in March with a .926 save percentage but has struggled in his last two starts, to a point where Keefe said he thought about pulling the goaltender in the team's 5-4 OT loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
If Woll has a strong performance against the Panthers, does that change who should be No. 1? Or is it a given that Samsonov, the goaltender of record who helped backstop the team to their first playoff series victory in 19 years gets the first crack in Game 1?
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