Fellow Russian Caps prospects Ilya Samsonov and Sergei Shumakov took advantage of the Bears being off this week until Saturday by taking a quick jaunt to New York City.

The two are housemates in Hershey and Samsonov recently spoke with The Athletic’s Chris Kuc about some of the learning the pair have had to do off the ice, including cooking for themselves and washing clothes. With Shumakov sidelined for several weeks with an injury to his hand, that has left most of the cooking duties to Samsonov, who admitted the pair have been mostly surviving off store-bought Russian dumplings.

Luckily, the Russian teammates feasted on something better than Samsonov’s dumplings in NYC. The pair posted several highlights from their trip on their respective Instagram feeds.

The teammates share an apparently tender moment near the Central Park Boat Pond…

…and even more tender steak at the posh Nusr-et Steakhouse in Midtown.

Having vanquished the succulent sirloin, Shumakov struck a triumphant pose on Times Square.

With perhaps a couple of weeks to go before he returns to play, it’s good to see Shumakov keeping his spirits up. Samsonov said that the two housemates are adjusting to living and playing in North America. Both have been working with English tutors in Hershey in order to improve their communication with teammates and coaches.

Former Capitals goaltender and current Capitals pro development coach Olie Kolzig emphasized the importance of overcoming that language barrier.

“The more [Samsonov] learns, the better goaltender he’s going to be because there is a bit lost in translation when [goaltending coach Alex Westlund] is trying to work with him on the ice and trying to be specific on things and [Samsonov] doesn’t quite understand what’s being said,” Kolzig said.

Now if only we could do something about Samsonov’s jacket.