Maple Leafs Ilya Samsonov to Make Third Consecutive Appearance in Goal Against Canadiens; Lineup Notes
Samsonov #Samsonov
Saturday’s start marks the first time since October that Samsonov will appear in three consecutive games for Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is riding the hot hand with his goaltending and has elected to go with Ilya Samsonov in goal when the team visits the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Russian goaltender is coming off of 37 save performance in a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. He also came on in relief of Matt Murray on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers while his team was down 4-2 and made 11 saves on 11 shots in a 5-4 overtime victory.
The 25-year-old goaltender has excelled at home this season with a 12-0-1 record and a .938 save percentage with two shutouts but has not had the same success on the road.
Samsonov is 2-4-0 with an .887 save percentage away from Scotiabank Arena this season.
Saturday will mark the first time that Samsonov will make three consecutive appearances in net since a stretch in October and it’s the first time it has happened with a healthy Murray available.
Before this recent stretch of games, Murray had made four starts in Toronto’s previous five games, the most of any appearances for the 28-year-old goaltender this season. But with Samsonov performing well as of late, it appears that Samsonov may run this out for the time being.
Murray started in goal for the Maple Leafs when the team was in Montreal for their season opener. He made 19 saves on 23 shots in a 4-3 loss.
Unlike Samsonov, Murray has been more successful on the road. He has posted a 7-4-1 record with a .921 save percentage.
Jarnkrok maintenance day
Calle Jarnkrok did not take part in Toronto’s practice before departing to Montreal.
“It’s just a maintenance day for him,” Keefe said. “It shouldn’t affect anything for tomorrow.”
Dryden Hunt filled in for Jarnkrok while absent and Wayne Simmonds took Hunt’s spot on the fourth line, opening the door for Simmonds to possibly get into the lineup against the Canadiens.
Timmins in, Benn out
After sitting out as a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets, Conor Timmins will slot back into the lineup in place of Jordie Benn. And he’ll be reunited on a defense pair with former Sault Ste. Marie teammate Rasmus Sandin.