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Insider reveals that the Leafs are making a bold move in net
Photo credit: TSN
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov registered his first win in six weeks last night against the Seattle Kraken in what many saw as a "must win" game. Samsonov was not overly busy, facing just 17 shots, but there were some very high percentage scoring chances that he had to make multiple saves on.
Samsonov looked like his old self last night and the hope for the Leafs is that he can build on that start and string together a handful of good ones consecutively. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on today's 32 Thoughts podcast, the Leafs are not just hoping, they are very much going to see if he can. On today's episode, Friedman stated that he believes the Leafs are going to give Samsonov a run in net to give Martin Jones a break.
Jones, who has done an admirable job for the Leafs the past month and a bit, has looked tired lately. He has given up three or more goals in each of his last five starts including two four-spots and a six-spot. Jones has played 15 of the Leafs last 18 games, and at 34-years-old, has run out of gas and needs some time to recover.
With the Leafs off until Wednesday when they host the Winnipeg Jets in the first game of a home-and-home, Samsonov will have plenty of time to rest if the Leafs are going to start him in both games. In 17 games, Samsonov has gone 6-3-6 with a 3.69 GAA and .866 save percentage. Hopefully those numbers will come up here in the second half.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 22 | 881 ANSWERS Insider reveals that the Leafs are making a bold move in net Should the Leafs let Samsonov run with the net? | ||
| Yes | 536 | 60.8 % |
| No | 345 | 39.2 % |
| List of polls | ||