The 2023-24 season has been a rollercoaster ride for Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov. The 27-year-old entered on a one-year extension, thanks in large part to helping lead the group to their first playoff series win in nearly 20 years. The love the city had for him thanks to that, however, quickly diminished following a horrific start in 2023-24.
Related: Maple Leafs: Marner’s Playoff Struggles Summed Up By Bailing on Hit
Samsonov was flat-out awful to begin the season, posting a save percentage (SV%) below .900 in 10 of his 15 starts before the new year. He left management with little option, as they had no choice but to place him on waivers on Jan. 1.
Samsonov cleared waivers and was re-assigned to American Hockey League affiliate Toronto Marlies. Instead of playing games for the Marlies, however, Leafs management elected to have him skate and work away from the team, and the move seemed to pay off. He wound up being recalled by the Leafs a few weeks later, and played far better down the stretch. Though his 3.13 goals against average (GAA) and .890 SV% didn’t look impressive on paper, it was clear to all that he was going to be in the net for Game 1 of the playoffs.
Samsonov’s Struggles Have Re-Appeared
The Leafs’ start to the postseason hasn’t gone how they had hoped, as they find themselves trailing 2-1 in the series following a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins last night. Game 3 started out well, as Matthew Knies was able to open the scoring just past the midway point of the second period, which gave his team plenty of momentum. That changed soon after, however, as Samsonov allowed a low-danger opportunity from Trent Frederic to beat him under the blocker.
This was an inexcusable goal to allow at any time of the season, let alone when your team had just taken the lead. This put a serious damper on the energy in the building, and though the Leafs were able to keep it squared up heading into the intermission, Jake DeBrusk was able to give the Bruins their first lead of the night just a minute into the third period.
Tyler Bertuzzi was able to get things squared up momentarily roughly 10 minutes later, but any momentum was once again completely swept away, as Samsonov was beat by Brad Marchand just 28 seconds later. Though this goal wasn’t nearly as weak as the one from Frederic, it is a save that true number-one goalies always seem to find a way to come up with in order to keep momentum building for their team.
After last night’s performance, Samsonov now has a 3.05 GAA and a .895 SV% through the first three games of the playoffs. Those numbers are not good enough to win, and based on his very pedestrian season stats, it’s hard to envision them improving much, if at all. The Leafs will not come out on top of this series if it continues, which has given head coach Sheldon Keefe some serious thinking to do.
Given Samsonov’s struggles in Games 1 and 3, there is serious reason to consider starting Joseph Woll in Game 4. Though the 25-year-olds numbers were also far from outstanding, his 2.94 GAA and .907 SV% on the season were better than Samsonov’s. He also has playoff experience, having played in four postseason games last spring, which he fared quite well in with a 2.43 GAA and .915 SV%.
Which goaltender Keefe decides to go with likely won’t be made public today, but if he does choose to go with Samsonov, the only way the Leafs will have a chance at winning Game 4 is by giving the Bruins very little offensively. The Russian goaltender simply isn’t capable of making game-changing saves, and with how strong of a team the Bruins are, them continuing to give him the net will likely result in another Leafs’ first-round exit.
