The injury bug appeared to have caught its latest victim on the Leafs when it was reported that Ilya Samsonov took an early exit from the morning skate.
Ilya Samsonov leaves Leafs skate in pain @TSN_Edge @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/FTokF5trmt
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 16, 2024
Samsonov was doing his starting routine when he either took a shot off the knee or awkwardly bent backwards. The video picks up shortly after this occurred where he was in serious discomfort yet was able to exit the ice on his power but hunched over in pain.
The tweets threw Leafs fans into a frenzy as this comes after two of the team’s key players have gotten injured within a week. Mitch Marner is still recovering from a mild high-ankle sprain while Calle Jarnkrok is out week-to-week with a hand injury, so seeing Samsonov appear to be the latest Leaf to get hurt was enough to get the fans to freak out.
Roughly 30 minutes after the initial reports of this latest setback, Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media to calm the storm by revealing Samsonov was fine and would be clear to get the start.
Sheldon Keefe opens his avail with..
“Sammy’s fine he’ll play tonight. Leave me alone.”
Big smile. @BodogCA— David Alter (@dalter) March 16, 2024
Keefe later added that the sequence which saw Samsonov look to be in serious discomfort was simply him getting a stinger in a bad spot which appeared worse than it was. It is certainly a relieving revelation given how hurt Samsonov looked in the aforementioned video, but now all signs are pointing to him getting the nod for tonight.
It’s not like the Leafs were ill-prepared for the possibility of having to change their gameplan against Carolina as Brad Treliving was seen speaking with Joseph Woll in the immediate aftermath of Samsonov leaving the ice. Woll would have gotten the nod instead and Martin Jones would immediately slide in as the backup since he has remained with the team even after Toronto got fully healthy in the crease. While this scenario will not end up occurring today, the possibility of it happening again in the future is precisely why Jones has not been sent back to the Marlies.
Now that the crisis has been adverted, the Leafs can shift their focus to taking on the Hurricanes this evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and you can catch the action on Hockey Night in Canada.
