Ilya Samsonov fires back on social media after being criticized for Filip Chytil's faceoff goal on Wednesday

In the second period of Wednesday's game against the Rangers, Ilya Samsonov gave up one of the more unique goals we've seen in some time to Rangers forward Filip Chytil. Off of a faceoff in the Leafs' zone, Chytil subtly changed his hand position on his stick right before the linesman dropped the puck. That allowed him to fire a shot on goal off the draw instead of winning it back or to the side.

The shot caught Samsonov and everyone else off-guard as the 25-year-old netminder was not completely set and the puck beat him five-hole. The video went viral on social media shortly after, and Samsonov was tagged by an Instagram account in the video to poke fun at the Leafs' backstop.

Following the game, Samsonov turned the tables by reposting the video to his own account. He followed that by reposting the Leafs' Instagram post of the box score showing the 3-2 OT win for the Leafs, signifying that his team got the last laugh.


Samsonov has quickly become a media and fan favourite in Toronto with his sense of humour and how quickly he is able to move on from bad games or mistakes.