Ilya Samsonov sort of mangled his intended quote into half-English expletives and half-Russian curses, but we got the point.
Horseshoes aren’t exactly falling out of his hockey pants the past four games in which he’s given up 17 goals and has needed high-scoring mates to bail him out in two tight wins.
On Tuesday versus St. Louis, he surrendered five in his first 21 shots and was beaten three more times in the shootout loss. He spent a long time at his stall in deep thought before assessing where things have gone south since back-to-back shutouts.
“I believe in what I do here every day,” he said of his first rough patch since coming from the Washington Capitals, other than an early season knee injury. “I didn’t see a problem (versus the Blues), technically or physically, I felt very good.
“It’s not easy (to forget a bad game), it’s the same work in the gym or on the ice. You need to come to the game with a good mental approach. Tomorrow is a new day. The season is 82 games, going up, going down, all the time. But we stay positive.”
Samsonov was back to his chatty ways with teammates and equipment staff at Wednesday’s practice, though it’s likely Matt Murray faces Seattle on Thursday and the duo split the Detroit – Philadelphia back-to-backs this weekend.
“We’ve been using both guys and I don’t see that changing,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It was a mixed bag for Sammy in terms of how the last game went. I thought he made some big saves (facing 25 shots overall) at important times and certainly we needed more saves.
“The goals against have risen here and we’ve slipped a bit 5-on-5 and on special teams since the Christmas break. Those kinds of things catch up with everybody – including the goalies.”
GET KRAKEN
Year two for the Seattle expansion outfit is unfolding a lot better. After beating Edmonton on Tuesday, its 20 wins are just seven behind last year’s total.
“They look like they’re playing with a lot of confidence,” said former Kraken Mark Giordano, whom the Leafs acquired for playoff depth on the blueline last year. “Not to make excuses, but last year was a tough start for us there. We never really got going, had a lot of COVID-19 issues that are (detrimental) when trying to get 25 new guys together. To be honest, that’s more important off the ice to bond. We weren’t able to do that when COVID-19 ran through our room pretty early in the year.”
Giordano agreed with the prevailing opinion that Las Vegas’ immediate success in its first year in 2017-18 made other general managers far warier of who they exposed to the Kraken in expansion and the nature of their trades.
Seattle and the Florida Panthers were tied atop the NHL with 89 goals in 5-on-5 situations as of Wednesday.
“They’re very connected, very structured,” Keefe said of his former assistant Dave Hakstol’s work behind Seattle’s bench. “Even last season they weren’t an easy team to play. Looking at the underlying metrics and numbers they were a really good team, who couldn’t get a lot of saves.
“They have a lot of speed, are great in transition and they’re deep, with offence on all four lines.”
THE SIX IS IN
Conor Timmins will have to spend at least one more game in the stands.
While the new defenceman quickly became a fan favourite in his first 11 appearances, giving the Leafs more size and slick passing with eight assists, Keefe still thinks he needs acclimatizing to the Leafs’ system and forewarned him he’d sit at least the first two this week, while practising with fellow healthy scratch Jordie Benn.
“It’s a good chance for him to spend more time in the gym and with our development staff without having to focus on the games,” Keefe said.
The coach also had to work with Morgan Rielly and Rasmus Sandin as both came back from injuries.
“We’ll revisit it after (Seattle),” Keefe said of the lineup. “Certainly, with Timmins and Benn, who’ve done a good job for us, it’s not an easy decision to have them come out. (Rielly, Sandin, Giordano, Timothy Liljegren, Justin Holl and TJ Brodie) have by and large been our six when we’re healthy and you want to give them an opportunity to get going again.
“But like anything else when you have other guys who’ve shown their ability to help, you have that internal competition. Hopefully that pressure, in time, becomes a positive.”
LOOSE LEAFS
If the 2024 NHL all-star game is coming to a northern city as rumoured, don’t rule out the Leafs working on a formal bid in the coming weeks … Winger William Nylander was granted a maintenance day Wednesday. He had a goal and two assists in the regulation comeback against the Blues … Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are at a combined 999 points as Leafs after Tuesday, Matthews becoming the fastest in club history to 500 with an assist before adding a goal, while Marner had one helper to get to 498 … Rielly took some congratulatory wishes after long-time girlfriend Tessa Virtue announced on a podcast Tuesday they’re getting married. “I feel very fortunate,” Rielly said … One area the Leafs can exploit the Kraken on Thursday should be faceoffs. Toronto was 62% on Tuesday against the Blues and ranks fourth in the league at 53.1%. Seattle is second worst to Buffalo at 45.2% … If Seattle was ever to win a Stanley Cup before Toronto, it would be the 15th team to start from scratch and raise it since Toronto’s last title in 1967.
Post a Comment