Peter Laviolette announced early this afternoon that Ilya Samsonov will start in net against the New Jersey Devils today.
It will be Samsonov’s first start with the Capitals since a 4-3 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 17th.
Samsonov will start for the #Caps today in New Jersey, per Laviolette.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 28, 2021
The Capitals officially recalled Samsonov back to its NHL roster this afternoon and re-assigned Craig Anderson to its Capitals taxi squad. Anderson won his only start, a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on February 21, while Sammy was out.
Samsonov will start for the #Caps today in New Jersey, per Laviolette.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 28, 2021
Laviolette also announced that Evgeny Kuznetsov would miss his second straight game.
Kuznetsov will miss a second consecutive game, Laviolette said.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 28, 2021
The Russian netminder, who missed the 2020 playoffs due to injuries suffered during a reported ATV accident, tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-January and entered protocol on January 20 after only two starts this season. After 19 days on the NHL’s COVID-19 Unavailability List, Samsonov, and teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov, returned to practice on February 8 after they both had severe bouts with COVID-19. Samsonov said that he had trouble breathing and walking while struggling through the symptoms of the virus.
After several days practicing with the team, the Capitals decided to option Samsonov to Hershey to get work in the AHL.
Samsonov made four conditioning starts overall with the Bears, posting a 2-1-1 record, a 3.25 goals-against average, and an .869 save percentage. Samsonov’s first game, a loss against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, was an admitted struggle. He surrended five goals in an overtime loss. But he began refinding his fitness second game against the Binghamton Devils was a win. He made 22 saves and was named second star of the game. He said after that game he felt “much, much better.”
The 3 Stars of the game in tonight’s victory over the Devils!@PNCBank | #HBH pic.twitter.com/4N868RTlVp
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) February 18, 2021
Samsonov’s final two starts in Hershey seemed worse than they were and more a reflection of an underwhelming defensive team serving up high-danger chances from near the crease. In total, Samsonov gave up three or more goals in three of his four conditioning starts.
With the Capitals this season, Samsonov is 1-0-1 with a 3.36 goals-against average and an .868 save percentage in two games. During his time out, Vitek Vanecek made most of the starts. He won the NHL’s Rookie of the Month in January and it appears the starting job is his to lose.
Welcome back, Sammy.
RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
