The Washington Capitals will turn to Ilya Samsonov for a second straight game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday night. It will also mark Samsonov’s third start against the Flyers this week.
“I think he played well,” Peter Laviolette said after the morning skate. “He certainly played well against this team. It’s great to have two goalies we’re confident in. So we made the decision to give him the second game here just based on the way he’s played here. We’ll just move with it day-to-day.”
Meanwhile, the Capitals are still scrambling from the surprise loss of Lars Eller, who left the team on Thursday just before puck drop “due to a family matter.” Center Brian Pinho centered the team’s third line, but he is not currently on the active roster.
Capitals lines at AM skate:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Sprong
Sheary-Pinho-Panik
Hagelin-Dowd-HathawayDillon-Carlson
Orlov-Schultz
Chara-Jensen*Still no Eller, Wilson
*Pinho is not on the Caps’ active roster yet— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) March 13, 2021
When asked if Pinho would play, Laviolette was noncommittal and said, “we’re working through things so I don’t have any definite answers for you right now.”
The Capitals went with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen on Thursday and had defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler dress in Eller’s place. The Swiss rearguard only got one shift at the very end of the game.
As for Eller, Laviolette said, “Lars is okay. I think out of respect to him, we’ll just leave it that he had a personal family matter.”
The Capitals are currently in second place in the East Division, sitting two points behind the New York Islanders who have a game in hand.
