Ilya Samsonov continues dominance at home behind Maple Leafs' strong team effort

Ilya Samsonov says that he doesn’t look at the shot clock during games. 

It stems from back to his days in Washington, where he first made the leap to North American soil as a highly touted first-round pick, immense expectations resting upon his shoulders as the highest-drafted goaltender since Andrei Vasilevsky. 

But those early days in Washington didn’t quite live up to those lofty heights.

“When I came to North America, I played so bad,” Samsonov says. “Every game is four goals.”

Samsonov needed a change in mindset. And so, the young netminder decided that he would stop scoreboard-watching and focus solely on the game at hand.

That meant that when it was brought to the netminder’s attention Thursday night that he’d made an impressive 16 saves during the first period, his heaviest single-period workload of the year, the 25-year-old was caught by surprise.

“I felt good in the first period, (but also) the second and third periods,” he smirked. “The full team played great today.”

“I felt good, physically good. Nothing crazy.”

Indicative of the rest of his night, Samsonov was outstanding for the Maple Leafs, making a season-high 37 saves en route to a 4-1 Maple Leafs victory. Samsonov's lone blemish on an otherwise sparkling evening was a 5-on-3 powerplay blast from Kyle Connor, tough to stop in even the most favourable of circumstances, much less down two men. 

His excellent first period was imperative, keeping the Maple Leafs in the game until Auston Matthews, in a flash of his Hart Trophy form, took over the game to begin the second period with a pair of goals, staking the Leafs out to a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“He was locked in tonight for sure, and obviously that’s big for us,” Matthews said. “That’s a big win for us, but it definitely could’ve been a lot closer.”

Throughout the contest, Samsonov looked athletic, poised and quick, while still showing off his reflexes on the odd gratuitous rebound — “I’m a little bit playing like (I have) two blockers today!” Samsonov joked postgame — looking like the netminder the club envisioned betting on when they signed him to a one-year ‘show-me’ deal last summer.

“You could tell he was really composed and calm in the net, so that gives us confidence as well,” Michael Bunting added, himself a key contributor on the evening with a pair of primary assists. “We’re really happy for him stepping up there.”

The strong team showing moves the Maple Leafs to 28-11-7, their 63 points four clear of the rapidly ascending Tampa Bay Lightning.

"It was big for us," Mitch Marner said of the team's effort. "Sammy made some big saves, I thought in the second period we did a good job...and when we needed a save Sammy was there to make it."

Samsonov’s stellar showing also adds to the lore of a bizarre split campaign the Magnitigorsk native continues to put together. Boasting an exceptional .938 save percentage at Scotiabank Arena, Samsonov now sits tied atop the NHL leaderboard in home save percentage (min. 13 GP) alongside Vezina contenders Ilya Sorokin and Connor Hellebuyck. 

On the road? He’s a paltry .887, ranked 58th amongst goalies with as many or more than his six road appearances.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe doesn’t have any theories as to why that may be the case, but he certainly doesn’t mind, especially given that both of his netminders seem to have found their groove in their respective roles.

“He was terrific in that first period. I thought we were on our heels a bit with the speed and pace they play at,” Toronto’s bench boss said. “So Sammy had to be really strong.”

“A lot of the shots he faced were straight on — still dangerous — but we didn't allow much in terms of side to side or them getting in behind us in clean. It allowed him to get some really good action, get involved and engage on some dangerous-looking chances, and he was really solid.”