Toronto – During a 2-on-0 break with two players shorthanded, Ilya Samsonov glanced up and saw them pressin hard.
If Adam Lowry or Morgan Barron had scored, the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie—demoted to the American Hockey League in December following a run of poor performances—would not have been at fault.
After attempting to re-enter the fray and possibly save his failing career for a month, Samsonov did exactly what he has done since clearing waivers.
He fought.
The Leafs goalie made 32 saves in the second period, stopping both Lowry and Barron in that incredible sequence. Auston Matthews then scored the game-winning goal at 4:13 of overtime on Wednesday, leading Toronto to a 1-0 victory over Winnipeg on a night when the home team was mainly subpar.
aside from its goalie, that is.
After Samsonov double-stopped on the 2-on-0, supporters inside Scotiabank Arena, a place where he had been taunted previously in the season, yelled the Russian’s name.
He remarked, “I almost cry,” in reaction to the applause from the crowd.
