Rising Above Adversity: Samsonov’s Success with the Maple Leafs

Specifically, after Ilya Samsonov had a horrible time as a goalie earlier this season, one reader dared to write that “Samsonov is a train wreck. Always was and always will be.” From my perspective, that’s hitting another human when they are down. It’s hurtful, unnecessary, and cheap. The truth is that if they said it in my presence, I’d call them out.

More interesting, I don’t believe the reader knew just how good of a season – even after all the bad of the season – Samsonov has had.

One Interesting Ilya Samsonov Statistic

Agreed, Samsonoiv experienced a deep fall-off in his play in December. I also agree that his fall-off was so low that his numbers for the season might never recover to a goals-against-average of 2.70 or a save percentage of .910. [My best research suggests that the NHL average league-wide GAA has hovered around 2.70 to 2.80 and that the average save percentage for NHL goalies usually ranges from .910 to .920. Samsonov has a GAA of 3.03 and a save percentage of .893. Agreed, it isn’t good.]

Yet, one interesting thing stands out in studying Samsonov’s statistics for the season. If you look at the statistics for all NHL goalies this season who have won 22 or more games (the number that Samsonov has won), he has the lowest number of regulation losses of any other goalie with six losses.

Specifically, here is the list of NHL goaltenders who have won more than 22 games, organized based on the fewest losses (in regulation and overtime). Samsonov has fewer losses—both in regulation and overtime—than any other goalie.

1. Ilya Samsonov (TOR) – 13 losses (22 wins)
2. Jeremy Swayman (BOS) – 16 losses (25 wins)
3. Jake Oettinger (DAL) – 17 losses (32 wins)
4. Logan Thompson (LV) – 18 losses (23 wins)
5. Igor Shesterkin (NYR) – 18 losses (34 wins)
6. Stuart Skinner (EDM) – 19 losses (34 wins)
7. Ilya Sorokin (NYI) – 20 losses (24 wins)
8. Alexandar Georgiev (COL) – 21 losses (37 wins)
9. Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA) – 21 losses (34 wins)
10. Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB) – 20 losses (29 wins)
11. Thatcher Demko (VAN) – 15 losses (34 wins)
12. Jordan Binnington (STL) – 24 losses (28 wins)
13. Cam Talbot (LA) – 24 losses (25 wins)
14. Jacob Markstrom (CGY) – 23 losses (23 wins)
15. Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) – 23 losses (34 wins)
16. Juuse Saros (NSH) – 27 losses (34 wins)
17. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) – 24 losses (26 wins)

This list ranks the goalies based on the number of losses (in regulation and overtime), with the goalies having the fewest losses at the top and the most losses at the bottom among those who have won more than 22 games.

My point is that Ilya Samsonov is far from a train wreck.