Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
It may have been a late-November regular-season game on a dreary Thursday night in Ottawa, but the clash between the Vegas Golden Knights and Ottawa Senators had been circled on Ilya Samsonov’s calendar for months.
The 27-year-old netminder was eliminated along with the Toronto Maple Leafs by Linus Ullmark and the Boston Bruins in a seven-game series in April. Samsonov played five of the seven games, including the deciding Game 7, while Ullmark played just one game.
In the off-season, Samsonov joined the Golden Knights, while Ullmark joined the Senators, but the bitterness seemingly remained.
“I was surprised that (Toronto) kept Samsonov for that many games against us in the playoffs, because every time, I felt at least, when we played the Leafs and (Joseph Woll) was in net, it felt like it was more of a challenge,” Ullmark told the Leafs Nation podcast in June.
In response, Samsonov hit back on an Instagram comment over the summer, telling Ullmark to “Nov. 21, keep your ass shut or are you injured again?”
Linus Ullmark vs Ilya Samsonov tonight!
This should be fun to watch, we don’t get many goalie feuds in the NHL (at least not publicly).
Context for those unaware:
The two faced each other in the first round last year with their former teams (TOR & BOS).
Ullmark joined the… https://t.co/NXY5rFQHKa pic.twitter.com/hy1yw8wkLE
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) November 21, 2024
Thus, the stage was set for Nov. 21 at the Canadian Tire Centre, where Vegas played the second of a back-to-back after starter Adin Hill took on the Maple Leafs. And for Samsonov, turning in a 3-2 win with 38 saves on 40 shots was exactly what the doctor ordered. It may not equate to the joy of winning a playoff series, but the symbolism remains.
However, it wasn’t as if Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy had the date specially planned for Samsonov to start.
“I heard somewhere there… was there a Tweet earlier?” he asked. “My nephew actually told me that, so I didn’t know those two… See, they don’t have a history of playing together, they’re different countries. Like, what, they’re just pals?”
Cassidy said he missed the memo on what was happening over on the Eastern Conference side of the playoffs last spring.
“Yeah, I was Vegas-Dallas, so I missed that. But anyway, OK, well, that’s where it stems from.
“He told me something about ‘See ya in November or the 21st,’ so I guess they had a little duel going. I thought they were both good tonight. Very good, actually.”
But Samsonov was better. For the longest time, the Russian goalie seemed destined for a shutout until Adam Gaudette pounced on a one-timer midway through the third.
Drake Batherson pulled Ottawa within one goal again later in the period, but Samsonov was lights out the rest of the way. That included a highlight-reel stop on Thomas Chabot’s cross-ice pass to David Perron with just under three minutes left in the game.
“He was huge,” Brett Howden said. “Made some big saves, especially toward the end there. They had a few plays where they could have been putting one or two of them in. So, big saves from him and it was a big night.”
Howden said the team had a sense that Samsonov was looking forward to this game.
“I think we all kind of knew,” he said. “We were more worried about ourselves and getting our game back on track. Obviously, it was a great night for him, so it was really cool to see that for him.”
Fellow Russian Ivan Barbashev said Samsonov has been a great fit in the dressing room since joining Vegas. Playing in a backup role to Adin Hill, Samsonov sports a 4-2-1 record with a .906 save percentage and 2.99 goals against average.
“He’s a fun guy to be around,” Barbashev said. “He always makes a lot of jokes. He’s a good goalie, obviously, and we’ve all seen it today.”
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