Ilya Samsonov finally breaks his silence about his struggles this season

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Julien Trekker
December 31, 2023 (12:53)

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For the second consecutive time this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs number one goaltender, Ilya Samsonov, has been atrocious against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He gave up six goals in 21 shots on Friday, completely letting down his team and costing them the victory.

This led Sheldon Keefe to call out his general manager, Brad Treliving, to do something about the Leafs' goaltenders. He subtly asked him to search a new goalie on the trade market.

"I'm sure [Brad Treliving] is going to consider everything."

After that loss, Samsonov dropped to the second place in the NHL for the worsts goalies who played at least 10 games.

His teammates saved him many times this season. It's surprising to see how bad he was in the first 15 games of the year and only manage to lose two games in regulation time.

Samsonov Speaks Up About his Current Struggles

After the loss, the goalie opened up in an interview about his struggles.

This is what he had to say:

"The last three games, I didn't see a lot of luck... It's easy to put your head down and just cry and be sad. I'm sad about this, but I need to continue to work. Maybe next game, maybe next three games, the luck is back. Tough game for me, bad result. I don't know, a lot of emotion right now after the game. I need to prepare for the next game, this game's over. If you start thinking too much, it's probably worse. It's (my) first game after Christmas break, just head up, continue to move."

It's great to see that he keeps a positive attitude, focusing on working harder to push through that slump.

As seen on Maple Leafs Daily - Samsonov breaks his silence, speaks out about his awful play this season