How Ilya Samsonov Kept His Mind Clear Following Game 1 to Bounce Back for the Maple Leafs in Game 2
The goaltender admitted he was a little nervous heading into his first playoff game with the club. He stayed off his phone and watched poker on TV to help keep his mind off the bad game.
In his first playoff game with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, Ilya Samsonov was pulled after two periods when he allowed six goals on 29 shots on goal.
After the 7-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe elected to go back to the Russian goaltender for Game 2 and it paid off as Toronto defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-2 to even up their best-of-seven first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
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Samsonov admitted to being nervous as part of the reason for his shaky performance in Game 1.
"It was a big change for me in the playoffs that first game in Toronto," Samsonov explained. "It's a little different from where I played. Such new things. Less nervous today. Everybody said just relax and just enjoy this time."
Samsonov went about his usual business working with goalie coach Curtis Sanford on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Some of the Maple Leafs' practice was catered to the goaltender's preference of facing 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 situations that replicate what he may see in games.
The end result was a better performance from Samsonov, who made 20 saves on 22 shots in the win.
But as far as off the ice goes, Samsonov spent time fully away from his phone and away from watching any hockey.
"I'm just watching poker all day," he said. "I just wanted to do something different. I watched poker and stayed with my baby, it was a nice day yesterday (Wednesday)."
Samsonov became a first-ice dad in March when his wife gave birth to a baby boy named Miroslav. The goaltender says that he and a bunch of players play cards on the team's charter plane.
One player who has elected to stay away from the game is Zach Aston-Reese. Given those games usually have some money on the board, the Staten Island, New York native said he doesn't like to gamble, citing a bad experience when he was 13 while at a hockey camp in Minnesota.
"I was playing the older kids in pool and I was getting my show ran and I had to call my dad and ask him to wire some money," Aston-Reese said. "After that debacle, I stayed away from gambling."
Jake McCabe says every now and then he'll get in on the poker game but usually has a different card game of choice.
"Me and Laff (Sam Lafferty) actually play some Cribbage on the plane," McCabe.
The game, presumably carried over from when the two players were teammates with the Chicago Blackhawks before coming over in a trade to Toronto in February, has been tight with Lafferty leading the series 18-16.
"Hopefully on the flight, I catch up to him," McCabe said.
The Maple Leafs stayed off the ice before boarding the team plane to Tampa for Games 3 and 4. The message from Sheldon Keefe was to stay focused on the games ahead, realizing that Lightning will likely want to have a similar response to what the Leafs generated following a blowout.
"The mindset for us should be nothing but continuing to get better because it’s what’s going to be required," Keefe said. "It's a best-of-five series and we've lost home ice."
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