It’s little secret that Caps prospect Ilya Samsonov is having a rough start to the year.

After undergoing inguinal hernia surgery and a lengthy recovery during the offseason, Samsonov has only started four of Metallurg’s first 11 games, serving as a backup to 2015-16 Playoff MVP Vasily Koshechkin.

Though coach Ilya Vorobyev started Samsonov Friday against KHL-leading SKA St. Petersburg, showing confidence in his young goaltender, the match was not without its low points.

During the second period, Samsonov made a bad decision with the puck behind his own net, leading to a shorthanded SKA goal.

After retrieving a dump in, Samsonov didn’t put nearly enough starch on a leading, backhanded pass to his defenseman in the corner, giving the onrushing SKA forward plenty of opportunity to intercept the puck. All it took was a bump-set to a second SKA forward streaking in toward the circles, and the puck was one-timed to the back of the net.

The aerial shot above gives a clearer picture of how easy this play should have been.

There is at least one positive take-away here, however. From the last GIF above, you can see Samsonov had no trouble getting back in position and aggressively challenging the shooter, while getting his pads down quickly.

All in all, Samsonov stopped 26 of 30 total shots, in his first loss of the season. The game highlights are below.