Leafs announce starting goalie for tilt with division rival
Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov looked more like himself on Thursday night against the Boston Bruins, stopping 38 of 40 shots in a shootout loss. It was another step in the right direction for Samsonov, who admitted he was in a tough place mentally ahead of his start last Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
With his performance Thursday, it would not have come as a surprise for Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe to start Samsonov again tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Instead, Keefe has elected to start Joseph Woll, proving his intent to keep both goaltenders involved.
Woll is coming off of what could be his worst performance as a Leaf, numbers wise, giving up 4 goals on 27 shots Tuesday against the LA Kings. In Woll's defense, though, at least two of the goals he could do nothing about as they were scored of lucky bounces. These are the typical ups and downs that every National Hockey League goaltender faces.
Through 5 games this season, Woll is 3-2-0 with a 1.89 GAA and .942 save percentage. I'd expect a much better outing for the 25-year-old netminder tonight against a Sabres team who is 5-6-0 to begin the season and was obliterated by the Philadelphia Flyers last night on home ice.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 4 | 267 ANSWERS Leafs announce starting goalie for tilt with division rival Should Keefe have started Samsonov tonight after his performance against Boston? | ||
| Yes - could have helped to build confidence | 110 | 41.2 % |
| No - Woll is the right choice | 157 | 58.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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