Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe says "it's really good" to have Jones in the organization.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe says "it's really good" to have Jones in the organization.
The Maple Leafs had Martin Jones once again up with the team for practice on Wednesday ahead of their game on Thursday in Ottawa.
Toronto had originally called up Jones from the Marlies on Saturday morning because Ilya Samsonov had an illness. Jones backed up Joseph Woll against the Boston Bruins on that night and was also present for Maple Leafs practice on Sunday.
Samsonov did return to practice on Tuesday, but after speaking with the Maple Leafs' training staff before the skate began, the goaltender left the ice.
"He was feeling better today," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Tuesday. "But this illness has beat him up pretty good so he wasn't going to work through the whole day, but the hope is that we can build him up a day at a time here now."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHUV8Whm84[/embed]
Jones was loaned back to the Marlies on Tuesday morning ahead of their game against the Grand Rapids Griffins, but didn't play. The next morning, the 33-year-old goaltender was called up to the Maple Leafs and skated in practice.
Although Jones was called up, Samsonov did take part in Toronto's practice on Wednesday, making his way through the entire workout. And for Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, it was great to see Samsonov get through the practice.
"Just the fact that he got through it was a good thing," Keefe said. "He came in today feeling better, and the best he's felt in quite some time so that's really positive to get that full skate in."
In terms of what the plan is for Thursday's game against the Senators, Keefe says it remains up in the air, but that Joseph Woll will get the start for the Maple Leafs.
"[Samsonov] will travel with us tomorrow and he'll skate in the morning and then we'll see how he is. And then we'll make a decision," Keefe said of Samsonov.
The 26-year-old goaltender has had an up and down season to say the least. He began the year not playing as well as he'd hope, though has had a few good games under his belt since.
Samsonov currently has an .878 save percentage through eight games this season after signing a one-year, $3.55 million deal this past summer. He signed the contract as a restricted free-agent after going to arbitration with the Maple Leafs.
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