It's early in the season, but the Maple Leafs are already running into goaltending trouble.
With Matt Murray already sidelined, Toronto lost another goalie over the weekend as Ilya Samsonov suffered a lower-body injury during the Maple Leafs' 2-1 win over the Bruins.
The team announced that he would be put on injured reserve and is considered week-to-week.
Samsonov was injured during Brad Marchand's penalty shot attempt in the second period. You can see that Marchand froze Samsonov with the shot fake and when he was deking around him for the goal, Samsonov fell awkwardly into the net.
Brad Marchand beats Ilya Samsonov on the penalty-shot opportunity. pic.twitter.com/ok4pyKXVIl
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 6, 2022
The goalie played the remainder of the middle frame but was replaced by Erik Kallgren to start the third. The team announced he would not return and coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed after the game that Samsonov suffered the injury on the penalty shot.
The Leafs are calling it a knee injury. Keefe did not get into the specifics of the results of the MRI when discussing with the media on Tuesday.
Samsonov has served as Toronto's starter for the majority of the season. He was expected to split the duties with Murray, but once Murray went down with an adductor injury after just one game, Samsonov became the full-time starter.
MORE: How the Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is on pace for career year
The 25-year-old is 6-2-0 on the year with a 2.23 GAA and .921 SV%, providing very strong goaltending for Toronto in his first season as a Leaf.
When will Ilya Samsonov return?
It's not clear when Samsonov will make a return to the Leafs' lineup. Keefe said on Tuesday that the timeline for Samsonov is "uncertain" but he did consider him to be week-to-week.
The Russian goalie did go out onto the ice at Tuesday's morning skate to test things out, the first time he's been on the ice since the injury. Keefe said that his netminder is "feeling pretty good all things considered."
While the timing of Samsonov's injury isn't ideal, the team is expected to get Murray back soon. Murray is scheduled to practice in full on Wednesday ahead of Toronto's back-to-back on Friday and Saturday of this week. He has not played since Oct. 12.
While the two goalies are out, Erik Kallgren will man the net for the time being. The club signed AHL goaltender Keith Petruzzelli to an NHL deal in order to serve as the backup to Kallgren with Joseph Woll injured as well.
