Ilya Samsonov’s recent play in goal has allowed him to distance himself in a battle for the Maple Leafs’ net.
For the second time this season, Ilya Samsonov will make his third consecutive start in goal and it’s the first time he’s done it with a fully healthy Matt Murray available to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I think he’s earned it,” Maple Leafs head Coach Sheldon Keefe said of going with Samsonov on Tuesday against the New York Islanders. “I think the door opened for him in terms of coming is in relief for us when he did, he’s done a good job.”
Murray hasn’t played since allowing four goals on eight shots against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 17. Samsonov came on in relief of Murray and made 11 saves while helping his team Rally to defeat Florida 5-4 in overtime.
Initially, head coach Sheldon Keefe had been deploying a tandem of Samsonov and Murray equally. At the Midway point of the season, each goaltender had played in 16 games.
“Both were playing very well at the same time and both sort of slipped at the same time so it was harder to have any separation,” Keefe said of his goalies. “We’re into the second half of the season here now and I think it’s important to give guys the opportunity when they’ve earned it.”
Samsonov has posted a .950 save percentage since coming on in relief of Murray. The Russian goalie signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract with the Leafs back in July. Toronto still has an additional season committed to Murray with a salary cap hit of $4.6875 million.
It would have been ideal for Murray to have taken the net by now, but Samsonov has been solid for much of the season. He is 14-4-2 with a .919 save percentage. Murray is 11-5-2 this season with a .911 save percentage.
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