'Why Are You Guys Smiling?' Ilya Samsonov Explains What Happened at Maple Leafs Morning Skate Following Loss to Hurricanes

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Maple Leafs
By David Alter | Last updated 3/17/24

Ilya Samsonov made 36 saves on 40 shots in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday but he was certainly not the reason for the team coming up empty in the win column.

Samsonov made numerous saves against the high-octane Hurricane offence, even getting ovations from the crowd for some high-quality saves.

One save saw Jesper Fast denied by the quick glove of Samsonov.

Samsonov shows him the glove pic.twitter.com/JZWY4VKWxG
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 17, 2024

The crowd chanted SAM-MY numerous times for the Russian goaltender, whose playing status was in doubt earlier in the morning when he went tumbling to the ice in pain after stopping a shot during the team's morning skate.

Samsonov explained what occurred.

"Puck went to the bad zone, sometimes that happens," Samsonov explained without saying exactly where the puck went.

Samsonov said this morning the puck hit him in a “bad zone”.

*pauses*

“Why are you guys smiling?”
— David Alter (@dalter) March 17, 2024

"Why are you guys smiling?" Samsonov then laughed, without saying exactly where the puck hit him, just leaving it up to our imagination.

The fact that Samsonov can laugh after a loss shows how far the goaltender has come from his struggles earlier in the season.

After struggling for much of the first half of the season which saw him go on waivers and take a break from the Leafs 'main roster, Samsonov has had a strong 2024 and has posted a .925 save percentage in five starts in March.

Despite giving up 3-0 and 4-2 leads to Carolina, the Hurricanes dominated the game in every other possession metric with 65 percent of the high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 and 71 percent of the expected goals, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.