Ilya Samsonov makes crucial promise after poor 1st game

There was a little bit of everything between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in last night's opening game of the season for both squads, and it included plenty of offense, defensive blunders, and animosity.

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who is now in his second year with the Maple Leafs after agreeing to another one-year contract, didn't have his best outing as five pucks found their way past him. Thankfully for him and the rest of his teammates, they were able to avoid the opening night setback thanks to a furious come from behind effort that ultimately resulted in a 6-5 shootout win.

Samsonov made 19 saves on the 24 shots he faced, and he knows that he must rebound with a better effort next time around despite getting the win.

"Not fun game for a goalies - especially Toronto goalies," he said in his postgame remarks afterward. "Too many [bounces]... It's not too fun, but it's okay. We win, we have two points and I'm so excited about the result.

I want to just forget this game and I will watch some video with coaches. We'll see what's going on, but it's hard to say right now, because of [bounces]. I'm here [to] get better everyday... We have a practice before the Minnesota game [on Saturday], I will be focused on what I need to do."

Samsonov and the Leafs will be taking on the Minnesota Wild at home Saturday night in their next game.

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