The Toronto Maple Leafs starting goalie, Ilya Samsonov, exited the game last night after injuring his knee on the Brad Marchand penalty shot.
While backing up into his net and attempting to dive to his left to make a save on the Marchand penalty shot, the Toronto Maple Leafs best goalie fell backward awkwardly.
He was able to finish the second period but did not return in the third period. This could possibly be an indication that it is not a serious injury.
Backup goaltender Erik Kallgren played the third period for the Toronto Maple Leafs and preserved the 2-1 win. With Matt Murray and Samsonov injured, Kallgren was briefly the team’s only goalie, before they signed their AHL starter Keith Petruzzelli after the game.
Toronto has signed Petruzzelli to an NHL contract, and under normal circumstances, you’d just assume he would back up Kallgren, but Kallgren has a career save percentage of .888, which is very bad.
With Joseph Woll injured and Kallgren playing with the Maple Leafs, Petruzzelli has been the Toronto Marlies’ starting goaltender lately. He was on an AHL contract, so to bring him up to the NHL, Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas had to sign him to an NHL contract.
Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltending Going Forward
Everything depends on the seriousness of Samsonov’s knee injury. If it is serious, the Leafs could be forced to try to trade for a goalie, which would be expensive when everyone knows you’re down to your 4th and 5th stingers.
If everyone was healthy, Samsonov would back-up Matt Murray (though Samsonov has done enough to either win the starting spot outright, or at least split it), and Joseph Holl would be the third option, due to Erik Kallgren’s terrible NHL stats.
Kallgren and Petruzzelli is not a combo you hope to run with for any length of time. Goalies are unpredictable, however, so it’s always possible either one could surprise us with a solid run.
It’s also important to remember that the Leafs still finished fourth overall last year despite getting the 28th best goaltending.
Petruzzelli has been impressive with the Toronto Marlies this season. The 6’6 goaltender has a 6-0-0 record with a 2.31 GAA and a .922 SV%. With an 8-2-0 record, the Marlies are first in the AHL’s north division with 16 points in 10 games. It was only a matter of time before Dubas signed Petruzzelli to an NHL contract. (Stats from eliteprospects.com).
Dues to Nicolas Aube-Kubel being claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals, Dubas had a free contract spot for signing Petruzzelli. The Toronto Maple Leafs are now back to having a maximum of 50 pro contracts signed.