Golden Knights’ Samsonov relishes revenge game vs. Senators against ‘My guy’ Linus Ullmark

A certified grudge match is heating up in Canada’s capital.

The Vegas Golden Knights are scheduled to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. When talking to the Toronto media, Golden Knights goaltender, and former Leaf, Ilya Samsonov was asked whether or not he was disappointed to not be the starter against his former team.

He admitted that he is focused on facing another adversary–Ottawa Senators netminder Linus Ullmark.

“No, no, no,” Samsonov said. “Tomorrow. Against Ullmark. My guy.”

The Russian backstop is clearly looking forward to facing the Senators on Thursday night, the second half of a back-to-back for Vegas. The notion that Samsonov would rather play across the ice from Ullmark comes from a feud that began shortly after both the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Ullmark, then as a member of the Bruins, joined Leafs Morning Take in mid-June, not long before he was dealt to the Senators. When asked about Boston going up against Woll during their first-round series, Ullmark questioned the decision-making behind then-head coach Sheldon Keefe.

“I was surprised that they kept Samsonov for that many games against us in the playoffs because every time we played the Leafs and (Woll) was in net, it felt more like a challenge,” Ullmark said. “Even though I’m not a player, but just watching him, it looked so much more like [Woll] was in so much more control of the situations that was thrown at him.”

The quote sparked some outcry in Leafs Nation, especially since Samsonov was forced to start the decisive Game 7 as Woll was a late scratch due to injury. Samsonov started five games, losing four of them. Ullmark only played two games in the series before the Bruins ran with Jeremy Swayman for the remainder of the postseason.

Later, in August, Samsonov, who had signed with the Golden Knights, took to Instagram after the NHL Network labeled Ullmark as the 10th-best goaltender in the league. Samsonov commented, “November 21, keep your a** shut) or are you injured again?”

This season, Samsonov is 3-2-1 in six starts for Vegas with a 3.15 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. Ullmark, who missed a few games due to injury, is 4-5-1 in 11 appearances with a 2.99 GAA, a .884 SV% and one shutout.

All of this off-ice chat is leading up to what should be an exciting battle between the Sens and Golden Knights. Vegas (11-5-2) stands as the top team in the Pacific Division, while Ottawa (8-9-1) is trying to stay in the playoff conversation in the Atlantic.

Puck drop for Thursday night’s clash is 7 p.m. ET at Canadian Tire Centre.