Samsonov looking to correct course in goal against high-flying Canucks

The Toronto Maple Leafs held a meeting at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. The Vancouver Canucks held a full team skate. 

The Leafs didn't have a team skate on Saturday morning, but Ilya Samsonov was on the ice for one last session with goalie coach Curtis Sanford before he starts against the Vancouver Canucks. 

Samsonov hasn't played or spoken to the media since being pulled in the first period of Monday night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  

"He's worked his way through it," said coach Sheldon Keefe. "We feel good about the time we've been able to give him and the extra time with Curtis. He should be excited to play tonight. He's going to have tough competition on the other side both with their team and the goaltender in the other net."

Thatcher Demko will start for the Canucks. He is 7-2-0 with a .948 save percentage and has two shutouts in his last five games. 

It's been a nightmarish start to the season for Samsonov, who has an .855 save percentage through seven games. 

"He's responded really well over his time here in these types of situations," Keefe said. "I would expect the same tonight."

Samsonov will be facing the highest-scoring team in the NHL. The Canucks are averaging 4.54 goals per game. 

"It seems like everything they shoot is going in the net," said Keefe. "You got to do all you can to reduce their opportunities to score because they're really feeling it on offence. It seems like they don't need a lot of chances to be able to score."

Like Samsonov, it's also been a tough first month of the season for Leafs defenceman John Klingberg, who missed Friday's game against the Calgary Flames due to a nagging injury, but will return to the lineup on Saturday. 

"He continues to be bothered," Keefe acknowledged. "Avoiding the back-to-back for him was helpful and important for us, but he is available tonight and he'll go for us here tonight. It's something we'll have to continue to manage for him, but he's able to work through it."

Klingberg is expected to slot in beside William Lagesson on the third pair. 

"We'll get him in here tonight and then the schedule lets up quite a bit for us so we'll take it from here," said Keefe. 

After Saturday's game, the Leafs will only play twice over a 12-day stretch. 

Simon Benoit will be the odd man out on the blue line. 

Toronto is also making a change up front as veteran winger Ryan Reaves, who signed a three-year deal in the summer, will be a healthy scratch for the first time with the Leafs. Reaves was on for another two goals against on Friday and is a team-worst minus-11. 

"We want to give him the night and give him a chance to clear his head a bit," said Keefe. "Whether the goals are your fault or not it just piles up as you're pulling pucks out of your net so that can be a challenge for sure. So, it's on him to clear his head."

Bobby McMann was called up from the American Hockey League and will slot in on he fourth line. McMann played 10 games with the Leafs last season and although he only picked up one assist, the 27-year-old from Wainwright, Alta. impressed with his forechecking ability. 

"That may be his greatest asset," said Keefe, "his speed to get onto the puck first on the forecheck."

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William Nylander once again took the subway to Friday's game. 

"Mostly just depends on traffic," the Leafs winger said. "I don't want to sit in the car for 45 minutes getting down here."

Nylander is navigating traffic well both on and off the ice. With two goals and one assist on Friday, he's up to 21 points, which is tied for fourth in the NHL entering Saturday's slate of games.  

"He might be the best offensive guy in the league right now," said Leafs winger Calle Jarnkrok. "It looks like he's on a mission."

"I don't know what number, but he's definitely up there as one of the top players in the league," agreed Canucks coach Rick Tocchet. 

Nylander slid past Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson to score a power-play goal in the first period on Friday. He beat Dan Vladar on a nice shot to score his first career shorthanded goal in the second period. 

"He just continues to trust his shot more and more," observed longtime linemate John Tavares. "You see the one shorthanded, just his ability to use his shot, and his release, and deception with it and it's heavy."

Nylander is up to nine goals in 14 games, which puts him on pace for 53. He scored a career high 40 goals last year. 

Later in Friday's game, Nylander absorbed a hit from Nazem Kadri while making a no-look, between-the-legs pass to Tavares to set up another Leafs goal.

"I told him it was an unbelievable feed," the Leafs captain said. "So just great instincts and using his body to protect the puck and making the play all in kind of one sequence there, one motion. [He] put it in a great spot for me and gave me ample time to pick my spot."

The crowd is full of anticipation whenever Nylander touches the puck these days. 

"In overtime, at the end there, he gets the puck in our zone and the crowd's already cheering," said goalie Joseph Woll. "It's pretty cool ... He's a special player, man."

"Every time he touches the puck something dangerous is happening," said Leafs centre Max Domi. 

Nylander has recorded at least one point in all 14 games this season.  

"Just how consistent he's been is unbelievable," Woll said. 

Nylander isn't just more consistent this year. He's also more complete. 

"He was excellent defensively," raved Keefe. "Excellent. As good as he was on offence, he was as good defensively. On some of his shifts in the third period, he was in perfect spots, the puck came to him, he killed the play, and he got us going the other way or broke up some plays. His commitment defensively was the best it has been all season long."

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Since Domi moved to centre on a line with Nick Robertson and Jarnkrok, Toronto's third forward unit has been a factor on the attack. That trio has gotten on the board in all three games they've played together this week. 

Keefe points out that Robertson, like Domi, thrives on the give-and-go game. 

"It's on and off his stick quickly and he's jumping into space and Max is finding him," Keefe said. "Jarny is a good complement to all of that. He gets to space as well. He's scored some great goals sort of finishing off sequences between Nick and Max. The development of that line has changed a lot of things for us."

"We just try and create energy for the group every time we get on the ice," Domi said.

Domi has picked up an assist in three straight games. 

"Just in tight, like, he knows when to call for it and when I'm calling for it," said Robertson. 

"I feel like he finds me out there all the time," echoed Jarnkrok. "Great hockey sense." 

Domi is now up to seven assists on the season. 

Keefe feels like Domi's game was trending in the right direction defensively before the line shuffle, but moving to the centre has allowed him to maximize his skating ability. 

"The reason we did it is to get him skating, get him off the wall, and get him flying through the middle of the ice," the coach said. "So, that seems to have happened. His feet are moving with great regularity and he's using the asset that he has with that pace."

Domi hasn't scored yet with his new team, but he did pick up the game-deciding goal in Friday's shootout. 

"He made a couple big saves on the blocker side so I figured I would take it to his glove," Domi said of his move. 

"For him to come through in the moment is great for him," said Keefe. "Just another thing he can continue to build on."

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What's Robertson's comfort level since getting promoted to the NHL this season? 

"It's been at its highest," he said. "I've known these guys a long time so pretty comfortable."

Robertson produced 11 points in nine AHL games before being called up on Monday. After several false starts in recent years, it looks like the 22-year-old may be in the NHL to stay. 

"There's a real level of maturity there in terms of knowing when it's time to make a play and find a play and when it's time to put the puck into a spot where you gotta go work to get it back, but also take care of it," Keefe said. "He's always had great energy and great pace, but his game has always been a little bit scattered. He looked really organized." 

Robertson has been rewarded on the scoresheet with a goal and two assists in three games. 

"Since Robbie's been up he's been buzzing every shift," noted Domi. "He's been making lots of good plays and he's tenacious on the puck so giving us a chance to play in the O-zone quite a bit. For a young guy he's quite mature with the decisions he's making."

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Elias Pettersson leads the NHL with 24 points. 

"Just really hungry, really prepared guy," said Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes. "I knew he was going to have a big year. Really competitive and wants to win and wants to be up there with the top five guys in the league."

Vancouver's top-line centre picked up three points in Thursday's win in Ottawa, but didn't like his effort or that of the team. He felt it was too sloppy. 

"Petey came off a couple times and taking ownership," recalled Tocchet. "Like, 'I got to get this puck in. I'm awful right now.' And then he scores a goal and a big assist."

It wasn't the first time that the 24-year-old Swede called himself out this year. 

"The other night, he called me out of the office just to apologize for his game," said Tocchet. "You gotta love guys that do that. It's not I got to go search for him, he's coming to me and telling me he's not playing well and he's leading the league in points, so he must be doing something right."

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Hughes leads all NHL defencemen with 21 points, but that's not the statistic he brings up when asked about his hot start. 

"I've just been really solid," Hughes said. "I've been on the ice for four goals to start the year and chipping in offensively so just got to keep going."

Hughes has only been on the ice for four goals against in 5-on-5 play. He's been on the ice for 17 goals scored by the Canucks. 

What stands out to Pettersson? 

"Where do you start," he responded with a grin. "He's just been great all over the ice. Everyone knows he's good offensively, but this season people are really recognizing his defensive play as well."

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The cap-strapped Leafs traded forward Sam Lafferty to the Canucks on the eve of the season in exchange for a fifth round draft pick. 

"Big pick-up for us," said Tocchet. "Our scouting report said he was a good skater, but I didn't know he was that good of a skater through the neutral zone. But also the intangibles. He's only been here a month, he's a well-liked guy. Guys love him."

Lafferty has three goals and three assists while averaging 13 minutes of ice time per game. 

"He puts a lot of pressure on the other teams and he's chipped in here and there," Hughes noted. "The first and second line, they've been playing great, but when the third and fourth lines come over, they've been working teams, and that helps our top two lines when they can come over and have momentum."

Lafferty was acquired by the Leafs from the Chicago Blackhawks in February. He's due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.  

"He's bounced around a little," said Tocchet. "This could be a spot maybe he could hang around a while, because I love Laffs. He's a Canucks player, a player that we need. Hopefully he's a guy who can be here for a bunch of years. He's given us a lot of juice."

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Projected Leafs lines for Saturday's game: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner 

Bertuzzi - Tavares - Nylander 

Robertson - Domi - Jarnkrok 

Gregor - Kampf - McMann 

Rielly - Brodie 

Giordano - McCabe

Lagesson - Klingberg 

Samsonov starts 

Woll