Leafs' Samsonov keeps giving the most wholesome interview answers
In his first season in Toronto, Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov has quickly endeared himself to the fans for his high-quality play on the ice.
But his quotes off of it are garnering nearly as much buzz for their repeated wholesome nature.
Toronto fell 4-2 on Monday night to the Florida Panthers in their first playoff game in the second round since taking on the Philadelphia Flyers way back in 2004.
But if Samsonov was all that worried about the Leafs losing the opening game of the series, he didn’t appear to show it.
“You know, go back home, get some food, go to the sleep… tomorrow, sun is up again,” Samsonov told reporters last night.
Samsonov himself let in Florida’s four goals on 28 shots, bringing his playoff save percentage down to .894, to go along with a goals-against average of 3.29.
They aren’t the prettiest stats by any means — Samsonov has the fifth-lowest save percentage of the 16 goalies in the playoffs to play four games or more — but he doesn’t seem all that concerned about what’s in the past.
“Bad result. But first game, yeah?” Samsonov said. “Head’s up. After every game, head’s up, and keep on working.”
As for what’s in the past, Samsonov became the first goalie in NHL history last Saturday to win three overtime games on the road in one series when Toronto clinched their first-round victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I feel tired right now,” Samsonov admitted after the Leafs’ Game 6 win on Saturday. “Inside I’m so excited. It’s a big deal for us. Special for our group. This series over. Thank you, Tampa. Tampa Bay is nice team. Hard series for us. A lot of emotion. Thank you fans. You guys unbelievable and we just prepare next round.”
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t have much to say about Samsonov’s play, but rather chose to give credit to the Panthers for their win.
“I thought we made mistakes. Credit to Florida because of how they played. They force you to make mistakes,” Keefe told reporters. “I thought we made some mistakes tonight that we didn’t necessarily make in the last series.”
The Leafs host the Panthers tomorrow for Game 2, with puck drop set for 7 pm ET. And yes, the sun is expected to come up tomorrow as well.