JUST ANOTHER PIPE DREAM? IS KYLE DUBAS' TANDEM EXPERIMENT THE NEXT 'BIG FAILURE' IN TORONTO?

Mario Russo

Nearly nine months ago to the day, Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas tamed the tottering waters of finding a goaltender in a goalie-less world. Heck, he even locked up a pair, adding Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov to the roster within a 48-hour span.

In one foul swoop, the team’s biggest offseason question mark was bartered for not one, but two exclamation points, both of which - despite their inconsistencies and time on the shelf - have yet to reach their expiration date.

To Dubas, this was the answer, the remedy to the team’s immature imbroglio that made its presence felt earlier that spring. The tandem was Dubas’ epiphany, his ticket to a longer season in 2023. Nearly a year later however, that ticket has been sold out.

And the Maple Leafs find themselves smack dab in the middle of a playoff series against the reigning Eastern Conference champions.

Through just a pair of games, goaltending has been the double edged sword that has both bolstered and busted the Leafs and Lightning’s chances at victory throughout this series.

In just six periods of play, both starters in Ilya Samsonov and Andrei Vasilevskiy have been the victims of half a dozen goals and a sub .820 save percentage, with Vasilevskiy eyeing down a Thursday performance good for his second worst playoff outing as a member of the Lightning.

Throughout his nine-year career, responding to such adversity has arguably been the selling point to Vasilevskiy’s postseason resume, with Toronto fans getting a front row seat to it all in Tampa’s series-clinching win last Spring.

Last night gave a glimmer of hope to Samsonov’s case of being one of the few Toronto netminders over the years capable of putting disaster behind them and focusing on the games ahead. The 26-year old was sharp following his team’s 7-2 shellacking from the Lightning in game one, directing his rebounds into his chest and glove while stopping 20 shots to help even up the series.

For the sake of ending a 19-year old playoff curse in the preliminary round, Toronto fans can only hope that handling adversity isn't just a one-off response from their starting netminder.

Yet no matter which way game three plays out, the sad reality around Leafs netminders still remains in a postseason setting. Responses are few and far between, and purely nonexistent in series-clinching moments. If Samsonov follows Toronto’s ghosts of goalie’s past later in the series, who do the Leafs turn to in order to find immediate restoration?

And possibly a necessary one as well.

Thinking Dubas nipped this problem in the bud by rolling out a tandem was merely a pipe dream. So too could possibly be his future in Toronto with Murray still shelved and Samsonov putting up outings similar to game one.

What was brought in to alleviate doubt has completely pivoted against Dubas and his plans to win his first round as a member of the Maple Leafs front office. Cutting two dependable options in goal to one rarely works for any team battling for postseason success and could very well be another team-building strategy to add to Dubas’ failed experiments in years past.

Will the consequences match up to the additions of Joe Thorton and his veteran leadership aimed to promise postseason prominence? What about the idea of adding the offspring of former Leafs to help secure a second round appearance - and trading a first round pick at the deadline to do so?

There remain very few predictables in the NHL postseason, but the team with better goaltending is predicted to win every single time.

Toronto fans know the better goalie so far in this series sits 200 feet across from their beloved starting netminder. They witnessed him take over the round when it mattered most in last year’s game seven defeat. He is expected to play a similar role this time around as well.

And so Samsonov stands all alone in the Leafs blue paint as round one of the playoffs inches onwards. His position remains uncontested. His ability to respond and match an opposing three-time champion netminder remains to be seen. In game three he will have to sink or swim, and do it all again for games four, five and six. God forbid seven.

Dubas, was this the plan all along?