‘Hungry for the net’: Ilya Samsonov's first win in 43 days is clutch

SEATTLE — Ilya Samsonov had been wandering the desert for 43 days and 43 nights without a win.

No doubt, it crossed the goaltender's mind, as it did for plenty on the outside, if he would ever win another hockey game. And, when he did, if it would be for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the club that placed him on waivers amid his December spiral.

But there Samsonov was Sunday night, feasting on the scraps of a depleted Seattle Kraken lineup and limiting the less-talented hockey team to a single goal — Jordan Eberle pocketing some loose change in a net-front scramble — in a low-event 3-1 win.

Since Samsonov's last victory, a relatively easy Dec. 9 shutout of the Predators, he's been pulled early, he's given up six twice, he's been demoted to the Marlies, and he's been leapfrogged by third-stringer Martin Jones.

The highs don't taste as sweet without the lows, though, do they?

So, after Samsonov finished the hockey hugs at Climate Pledge Arena, after Auston Matthews awarded him the player-of-the-game belt, after he was interviewed on live TV and GM Brad Treliving gave him a good-job smack on the butt, Samsonov soaked in the happy moment the way he's trying not to drown in the negative ones. 

"Unbelievable," he beamed. "It's huge for me. Long time, I didn't feel this.

"I'm really excited to be back to the team."

Samsonov was a touch emotional but not overly so. 

That's his new strategy: Live in the moment but get ready for the next one.

The embattled netminder with the baby son at home, expiring contract on file and ugly stat line described the period from October through to his recall to the Leafs 10 days ago as "probably hardest of my life."

He credits that 10-day quiet period alone with Marlies goalie coach Hannu Toivonen, away from the team environment and the stress of game-day preparation, with helping him reset and refocus.

"A couple steps back for moving forward. It was really important for me. I was being in a really bad spot, especially for mental," Samsonov says, before breaking into his contagious smile. "But I'm good right now.

"Life is moving forward. I'm staying positive. Like, I forgot about what's going on in the past. I'm just focused today and just focused in the moment, day by day."

Despite waiting a week between starts (last Sunday's tight loss to Detroit was a baby step), Samsonov looked rock solid in Seattle, albeit lightly tested by the NHL's 27th-ranked offence. 

He's building a case to get the nod on a non-back-to-back.

"He's been stacking good days," said coach Sheldon Keefe, noting the goalie's uptick in confidence during practice. "He's been hungry for the net on this entire trip."

Already lacking star power, the Kraken played down a handful of regular skaters — Yanni Gourde, Vince Dunn, Matty Beniers, Kailer Yamamoto and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — with a flu bug running through its room.

The Maple Leafs limited the home team to just 17 shots and never trailed.

"He didn't get a lot of work here tonight, but that sometimes is even harder, because you get long gaps between shots," Keefe said. "You got to really stay focused, and he was great."

In what was essentially a one-goal game (Jake McCabe tacked on a late empty-netter), Samsonov needed to pull out stellar kick saves on Jaden Schwartz and Justin Schultz.

"Sammy won us that game tonight," Max Domi said, before getting deeper.

"Sports is funny. It's not always as easy as people think. There's a lot more to it than just showing up and playing for the 60 minutes. It's 24 hours, and there's seven days, and it's a full 82-game season. So, your family is involved. Everyone's involved. It's hard. 

"There's gonna be days where it's fun and almost feels easy. And then there's going to be days where it's a grind. And when it's a grind, and it's tough, and it's not going your way, that's when you lean on your teammates. 

"To his credit, he's done unbelievable stuff behind the scenes that you guys will never know of or see. He works his ass off and is a great teammate. He's super positive, and that's how you get rewarded."

Perhaps Samsonov's most telling answer is the one he didn't give.

Asked to describe his 10-bell clutch save on Schultz to hold the lead in the third period, the goalie declined. For that save took place 15 minutes ago, and the past is no longer relevant for a guy learning not to dwell on his mistakes.

"Doesn't matter right now. I need to prepare for the next shot," Samsonov said. 

"Just stay in the moment."

Fox's Fast Five

• Frequent scratch Nick Robertson, drawing in for Bobby McMann, sniped his fourth goal in his past six appearances. This despite minimal power-play usage and averaging a shade over 10 minutes of ice time.

"Seems every game he's played, he seems to find the back of the net," Matthews said.

"You know he's gonna give you everything he has. And at a time when we haven't used him on the trip, he's going to have more in the tank than anyone else," Keefe said.

"I loved every second that he played on the ice. He did a tremendous job, not just because he scored the goal but how he worked and how he managed the game."

And yet Robertson skated just 8:52 — lowest among all Leafs Sunday, presumably because Keefe was in protect-a-lead mode.

Did the sniper do enough to earn a spot in next week's hard matches against the Jets?

• As was the case for last weekend's back-to-back, Conor Timmins subbed in for ex-Kraken Mark Giordano. The Leafs are wise to exercise load management with the 40-year-old. 

• John Tavares was superb in the faceoff dot (12-for-14) and all around the net again. Still, his point drought extends to eight games — his longest since his 2009-10 rookie season.

"John hasn't cheated for one second. He's not concerned about it. John is at a point in his career, as our captain and as a leader on our team, where he knows what's important. He needs to play the right way; he needs to take care of the puck; he needs to have good habits and details," Keefe says. 

"I do think the results are going to come. More importantly to me is that John is setting a great example for our team that it doesn't matter what his individual stats say. While he's fighting through it, he's not going to cheat the team and the system."

• Seattle's Brandon Tanev dropped the gloves early with Jake McCabe. The feisty Tanev took or drew all the game's first five penalties.

Just a relentless role player.

• Nice bounce-back night for rookie Matthew Knies: picks up an assist — which was later taken away — draws a penalty, gets promoted back to top line with Matthews and Marner.

"There's good chunks of time where Matthew Knies is really driving things and really contributing to that line," Keefe raved.