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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
Toronto Maple Leafs‘ starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov will not be available when the Leafs try to stave off elimination in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series against Florida on Wednesday.
Rookie Joseph Woll will get the start for Toronto, with Matt Murray serving as his backup.
Samsonov suffered an upper-body injury in Game 3 of the series on Sunday. It was early in the second period that Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn barreled into the crease and appeared to collide with Samsonov’s head. The netminder was down for several minutes before skating off under his own power.
Woll replaced Samsonov, who would not return to the game. He stopped 18 of 21 shots before the Leafs fell 3-2 to the Panthers in overtime to put them on the brink of potentially being swept from the postseason in a must-win Game 4.
Coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday that Samsonov’s status was still uncertain for Game 4, and the player would be undergoing a precautionary MRI. Keefe confirmed Wednesday that Samsonov is considered day-to-day, and that he never considered starting Murray over Woll in the event Samsonov’s results weren’t positive.
Murray hasn’t appeared in a game since April 2, when he suffered a concussion. He was only recently cleared to get back in if necessary.
Samsonov took the lion’s share of starts in his first season with the Leafs, producing a 27-10-5 record in the regular season with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He was 4-4-0 with an .898 SV% in the postseason thus far.
Woll appeared in seven games for Toronto during the regular season and was 6-0-1 with a .932 SV%.