Sheldon Keefe addresses starting goalie for Game 2

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov wasn’t the only one to blame for the humiliating 7-3 loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first-round series on Tuesday night. However, giving six goals over two periods before giving up your crease to rookie Joseph Woll for the last frame isn’t the way for the Maple Leafs to win this series and finally move on to Round 2.

“I will play better. I played like (expletive) today,” Samsonov admitted after the loss.

This, of course, prompted reporters to immediately asked head coach Sheldon Keefe about his plan in between the pipes for Game 2 on Thursday night.

Keefe kept his cool, contrary to during the contest thanks to questionable calls by the officials, and make this statement:

“It’s too early to know.”

Keefe was noncommittal about who he will put in net on Thursday after Game 1. I love the young Woll and what he’s done for Toronto in the last stretch of the regular season, but the playoffs are an entirely different game. While he managed to stay confident for the last period of Game 1, I wouldn’t want him to deal with the pressure of Game 2 on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Keefe finally confirmed that Samsonov will be back in net to start Game 2 against the Bolts tomorrow night.

“Sammy’s going in net for sure.” - Sheldon Keefe

That's the right call, right? Right? 

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