Ilya Samsonov’s third rehab start for the Hershey Bears on Wednesday was a bit of a fire drill. Sammy gave up four goals on 19 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but his performance wasn’t as bad as it seems.

While the Bears outshot the Baby Pens 28-19, they put up a poor effort defensively in front of their netminder, giving up several high-danger chances from point-blank range that turned out to be the difference.

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Here’s a review of the four goals Samsonov gave up:

• Radim Zohorna scored the Baby Pens’ first goal. He shed Bears defenseman Rob O’Gara and made a power move to the net. When Zohorna shot from point-blank range, the puck bounced off Samsonov, went high into the air, and then landed behind the goal line. The goal came with 12 seconds left in the first period.
• Anthony Angello scored WBS’s second goal on a rebound unguarded in front of the net. The Bears were tired at the end of a shift.
• Bears defenseman Cam Schilling got beat on the wing by Radim Zohorna (2) who used a power move to the net to score unguarded again.
• The Baby Pens’ fourth goal by Nick Schilkey could be pinned on Samsonov. The goaltender was beaten on a bad angle.

Samsonov is 1-1-1 in his three rehab starts with the Bears, posting an .859 save percentage and 3.33 save percentage. He gave up four or more goals in two of his three starts.

Last weekend, Samsonov said he was feeling “much much better” and he was ready to return to full-time to the Capitals.

2:30 pm update: The Capitals have re-assigned Samsonov to the team’s practice squad.

#Caps re-assign goaltender Ilya Samsonov from the Hershey Bears (AHL) to Taxi Squad.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 25, 2021

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB