Details on why Samsonov didn't travel to Ottawa revealed

Following the Leafs' 5-2 win over Carolina Friday night, the team travelled to Ottawa without goaltender Ilya Samsonov. When they recalled Joseph Woll from the Marlies, it led to some wild speculation as to why. Many believed that Matt Murray was injured again, and Samsonov would be starting back-to-back games for the Leafs. However, that was not the case as Sheldon Keefe revealed that Samsonov remained in Toronto to heal some "bumps and bruises" and that his wife is expected to give birth very soon.

As an update, Samsonov travelled with the team to Long Island for tomorrow's game. After a full three days off, Samsonov returned to practice this morning sharing the net in pre-practice drills with Joseph Woll. Matt Murray, coming off of a 48-save shootout win Saturday, did not participate.

The Leafs will play 4 games in 6 days this week so we should see Samsonov between the pipes for half of them (as long as his wife doesn't go into labour), which explains why Woll is still with the Leafs. Samsonov is 24-8-3 with 3 shutouts so far this season while posting a 2.35GAA and .917 save percentage.