Sheldon Keefe throws Ilya Samsonov under the bus… again.

It would appear as though Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is adopting the tough love approach when it comes to Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov, and given how poorly Samsonov has played as of late you can hardly blame Keefe for reaching this point.

Following an ugly loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night, Keefe pointed the finger at both general manager Brad Treliving as well as at Samsonov, indicating that his team simply could not win games with that kind of goaltending.

On Saturday night while facing the Carolina Hurricanes, the Maple Leafs got a much better performance out of veteran goaltender Martin Jones, who has quite frankly been a lifeline for the Leafs during Samsonov’s struggles, and once again Keefe appeared to take a jab at Samsonov. Keefe was asked about how he felt about Jones’ performance against the Hurricanes and the Maple Leafs head coach pointed out that Jones had simply done his job.

“He keeps them at two. That’s what you’re looking for,” said Keefe after the game.

The not so subtle hint at the fact that the Maple Leafs have not been getting that from Samsonov did not go unnoticed, but again you can hardly blame Keefe for trying to light a fire under what was supposed to be his number one goaltender. Goaltending performances like the ones that Samsonov has put forward as of late can get a head coach fired very quickly, and it would seem that Keefe’s patience with the Russian netminder may have run out.