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Ilya Samsonov becomes 10th NHL rookie goaltender ever to win 9+ consecutive decisions

By Donya Abramo

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January 17, 2020 10:08 am

Lost in Alex Ovechkin’s legendary night, Ilya Samsonov made more history on Thursday night with the Capitals decisive win over the New Jersey Devils.

Samsonov is now the 10th different rookie goaltender in NHL history to record a win in nine consecutive decisions during the regular season, and only the second active goaltender on the list, alongside the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington.

With Samsonov’s win against the Devils, he also recorded the longest run of wins (9-0-0) as a rookie goaltender in Capitals history. Samsonov was previously tied at eight with Bob Mason, who posted 8-0-0 from December 2nd, 1984 to January 17th, 1985.

That’s not the only franchise record that Samsonov has to his name. On January 8th, he became the first goaltender for the Capitals to get 12 wins within his first 14 starts. Samsonov also became just the sixth goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout before his 23rd birthday, since Braden Holtby achieved the same feat on March 25th, 2012.

Samsonov’s rookie season record has also improved to 14-2-1, with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. Among goaltenders with at least 17 games played, Samsonov leads the NHL in goals-against average, and is tied for fifth-highest save percentage with the Colorado Avalanche’s Pavel Francouz, but leads all rookie goaltenders in both categories. He is also the only goaltender with fewer than three losses in regulation with at least 17 games played.

Not to bad for his rookie season.

As Evgeny Kuznetsov so succinctly put after Samsonov recorded his first NHL career shutout: “I think you guys should talk more about how Sammy’s good.”

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong

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