Leafs goaltender makes a shocking admission following loss to last place Hawks

Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov was under the weather this week, which forced him to miss Saturday evening's game against the Montreal Canadiens. Thankfully, Joseph Woll was able to fill in amicably and help the Leafs pick up the huge 5-1 win over the Habs, but with the second game of a back-to-back occurring tonight in Chicago the Buds had a big decision to make.

Woll was never likely to make back-to-back starts, but he did travel with the team to Chicago last night. In addition, the Leafs also had Erik Kallgren travel with the team just in case Samsonov could not go. Well, as it turned out, Samsonov did in fact get the start, but it proved to be a questionable decision, as he was clearly not 100%.

Following a 5-3 loss to the last place Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, Samsonov admitted that he was dealing with a nasty stomach bug and didn't feel well again today. Samsonov admitted to the media in Chicago that he lost a lot of water over the past couple of days and that the game was tougher on him than it probably should have been. At times during the game, Samsonov looked winded and uncomfortable. He looked particularly rough on the 2nd Patrick Kane goal and was also pretty shaken up in the third after taking a puck off the mask.

With the race for home ice in round one of the playoffs so tight, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe probably shouldn't have gambled this game on Samsonov's ability to play through an illness. Kallgren may not have played exceptionally well this season so far, but he had shown early on this season that he was capable of winning at the NHL level. No matter what, it wouldn't have been an ideal situation, but if the Leafs had started their 4th string goaltender, at least they'd have had a healthy body in the crease.