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Maple Leafs to start Ilya Samsonov for third time this season against Capitals

By Chris Cerullo

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January 28, 2023 8:00 pm

The Washington Capitals are making the trip up to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs in the first of their last two games before the All-Star break. Waiting for them in Toronto will be former Caps goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

With Matt Murray dealing with an ankle injury of unspecified severity, Samsonov is scheduled to make his seventh start in a row for the Leafs. It will also already be the third time Sammy comes up against his former club in his first season since departing DC.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the news on Twitter.

On the season, Samsonov holds a 16-5-2 record, a 2.37 goals-against average, and a .916 save percentage for a Maple Leafs team that sits firmly in an Eastern Conference playoff position. Toronto has had to split their crease three ways this season due to injury issues to both Samsonov and Murray.

Samsonov has made 23 starts, Murray has made 19, and third goalie Erik Kallgren has made 10. According to MoneyPuck, Samsonov has been by far the best of the three as he has stopped 10.9 more goals than expected. That’s a top-ten mark among starters in the league.

Earlier in the year, Samsonov did not have to wait long to get his first revenge opportunity against the Caps as he took them down in Toronto on October 13. The young Russian netminder gave up two goals on his first nine shots in that game but stopped the next 10 he faced, leading the Leafs to their first victory of the season.

“A lot of emotion, you know, in the first period,” Samsonov said after the game. “First game with the Leafs for me and with my old team, but you know, I’m enjoying it. We get some smiles right now. We win an important game for us. Everything is good.

“Thank you, guys,” he added. “Thank you, defencemen. Thank you, fans. I am so happy.”

Things did not go as well in Samsonov’s second start against the Caps on December 17. In his first start back at Capital One Arena in front of Caps fans, he made just 23 saves on 28 shots. MoneyPuck had him saving 2.3 fewer goals than expected. The five goals against remain the second-highest total he has given up in a single game with the Leafs.

It was a less-than-ideal appearance that may have been impacted by the circumstances.

“I have nervous, a lot of emotion,” Samsonov said then. “The result not too great.

“Hard loss for me,” he added. “I think I play bad this game. Couple bad bounces but we need to get working. We’re coming back tomorrow and back to work again. For my game, I need to play better.”

He’ll get his third chance to annoy Capitals fans on Sunday although he’ll come into the matchup after pitching his worst performance of the season against the Ottawa Senators on Friday.

With Murray sitting on the bench as an emergency backup of sorts, Sammy was forced to take his lumps in a 6-2 loss. He gave up those six goals on 34 shots.

Puck drop is at 5 pm on Sunday.

Screenshot via Toronto Maple Leafs

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