They've been dealing with injuries that affect their goaltenders, and they've had to rely on emergency goaltenders for a few weeks now.
It's far from an ideal situation.
For a little over two weeks, they've had emergency goaltenders, sometimes amateurs, on their bench as a backup goaltender for every game.
We've seen it notably against the Montreal Canadiens.
In the last few minutes, the Toronto organization has just announced the emergency call-up of a goaltender (EBUG), but there's a big catch.
In order to avoid having an amateur goaltender or a Zamboni driver in net for a team during the NHL playoffs, the rule has been changed.
A major turnaround that is very beneficial for the Leafs, but still a very unique situation.
So instead of having an amateur emergency goaltender, they are allowed to call up an emergency goaltender who is a professional.
In this case, the goaltender in question is Erik Kallgren.
Kallgren, 26 years old, has played 24 games in the AHL this season (with a record of 10-9-2, a goals against average of 3.26, and a save percentage of 0.883).
The Maple Leafs' goaltending duo tonight, to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, will therefore be composed of Kallgren and Ilya Samsonov.
More details will follow.
POLL | ||
AVRIL 18 | 713 ANSWERS Major turnaround: the Maple Leafs are calling up an emergency goalie to face the Lightning Who do you think is going to win this series? | ||
Toronto | 220 | 30.9 % |
Tampa Bay | 493 | 69.1 % |
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