Samsonov Stands Tall Against Winnipeg

 

Photo From USA Today

Hey, Mark Scheifele is there anything better than beating the Winnipeg Jets? Last night the Leafs were in action against the Winnipeg Jets for their final meeting this season, The Jets were looking to climb back into the win column after losing the other night to Montreal. For the visiting Jets Connor Hellebuyck would start in goal and for Toronto would be Ilya Samsonov who was coming off a relief appearance against Florida.

In the first period, it was to be expected coming off a loss against Montreal but the Jets were full of energy and were in complete control of the action testing Samsonov and forcing him to make some massive saves because if it wasn’t for Ilya the Jets would have run away with a win in the opening twenty minutes. Samsonov would carry his team into the first intermission but with Toronto being outshot 16-6 I am sure many fans thought the Leafs would be in for a long night.

Teams would return for the second period and Auston Matthews decided to take matters into his own hands. Just eight seconds into the period Auston would make his way around Mark Scheifele before beating Hellebuyck with a snapshot between his pads for his 23rd goal of the season. With Toronto now holding the 1-0 lead they would begin to try and grab control of the game and it wouldn’t take long before the Leaf lead was doubled. Three and a half minutes after opening the scoring Auston Matthews would light the lamp a second time. Toronto would have possession in the Jets end when Michael Bunting would be behind Hellebuyck’s net, he would send a pass out front to Matthews who would score his 24th goal of the year and second of the game. Even though Toronto was leading 2-0 the Winnipeg Jets were still heavily outshooting the Leafs but once again Ilya Samsonov continued to turn away every Winnipeg attempt. Midway through the second frame the Leafs would find themselves shorthanded on what would be a controversial decision from last night's officials. Rasmus Sandin would be called for tripping but when the replay was shown we saw that Blake Wheeler tripped Sandin who knocked over Pierre Luc-Dubois. The Jets would have a great opportunity to cut the Leafs lead with the man advantage but things wouldn’t go in favor of the Jets. Thanks to a neutral zone turnover by Winnipeg Mitch Marner and David Kampf would counterattack with an odd-man rush. Marner would give a glance to Kampf forcing the lone Jet defender to think a pass was coming but Marner would fire a wrist shot by the glove hand of Hellebuyck and Marner now has seventeen goals on the season, he also extends his record home game point streak to twenty games. The remainder of the Sandin tripping minor would expire and the Leafs three-goal lead would remain intact even though the shot clock heavily favored the visitors and Toronto would head into the second intermission with the three-goal lead.

With twenty minutes remaining as the final period began everyone knew the Jets were going to throw anything and everything at the Leafs. We all know they’re a highly skilled team; the results prove that because they are the best team in the Western Conference. Within the opening five minutes of the period, the Leafs would find themselves two men down after being called for Too Many Men on the Ice, and then Mark Giordano would be sent off for Tripping. Before I talk about the Jets powerplay I have to mention that I find it very strange that here we are 44 games into the season and the Maple Leafs are the only team in a 32-team league to not have one 5-on-3 powerplay and I am sure everyone who follows this blog watches every game and we have seen on many occasions the Leafs should have had quite a few 5 on 3 advantages, I guess it’s just another example of the consistently inconsistent officiating in the NHL.

Anyway, with the Jets on the extended advantage, the Leafs would be under siege at times but Samsonov combined with strong defensive play the Leafs were holding on as the powerplay was winding down. Just before Dryden Hunt was about to return to the ice Samsonov would make a sprawling save on the Jets but the rebound would be lying there and thankfully Jordie Benn who was in the lineup in place of Connor Timmins, would manage to lift the stick of the Jets forward preventing him from scoring an easy tap in. As I mentioned the Leafs managed to kill off the Dryden Hunt minor and it looked as if the Leafs would survive the Winnipeg push. Sadly after an exhausted Leaf team failed to clear the puck the Jets would set up one final attempt on their powerplay. With nineteen seconds left in the advantage Winnipeg would work the puck around the Leaf zone, Mark Scheifele would set up Kyle Connor for a one-timed shot that would end Samsonov’s shutout bid and with his 23rd goal of the season Winnipeg would now trail 3-1.

After this goal, the Leafs would begin to do a great job slowing the game down as Samsonov would regularly freeze play but defensively the Leafs did a great job not allowing their opponents to establish zone time. With three minutes remaining in regulation, the Jets would go with an extra attacker but Mark Giordano would put the game away with an empty net goal for his 2nd of the season, and thanks to a great performance in goal from Ilya Samsonov the Leafs would end the night with a 4-1 win. This win would be Ilya’s 12th win on home ice with his only loss at Scotiabank Arena coming in that 6-5 shootout to St Louis that had fans melting down because Rasmus Sandin didn’t score.

It was mentioned after the game that Auston Matthews would be joining his teammate Mitch Marner at the All-Star game next month in Florida. The Leafs will now take a quick trip to Montreal for a Saturday night matchup against the Canadiens, that’s it that’s all thanks as always for reading.