After an overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette is switching things up in net again. Ilya Samsonov will retake the cage for the first time since he did his part in taking down the Ottawa Senators this past Monday.

This will be Samsonov’s third start and fourth overall appearance of the season. He is 2-0-1 with a 3.32 goals-against average and a .885-save percentage in those games.

Samsonov was the first goalie off the ice. #Caps

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 29, 2021

“There was probably a couple that he’d like back,” Laviolette said of Samsonov’s start in Ottawa. “And then there was a couple where they were incredible saves. That’s probably the best way to describe it. He made a lot of good saves.”

Ilya Samsonov was the first goalie off the ice at morning skate and is the expected starter against Arizona tonight. pic.twitter.com/mEpYtOX6ID

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 29, 2021

The rest of the Capitals lineup is still plagued by injury and if Nic Dowd, the most recently injured Caps regular, cannot go then Brett Leason will be making his NHL debut.

If Nic Dowd is out tonight, Brett Leason will make his NHL debut, per Laviolette. No update on Dowd's status yet.

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 29, 2021

“I liked him in preseason,” Laviolette said of Leason. “I thought he was big and strong and he was able to generate scoring chances. He was one of the last guys to get sent down. We liked the way his training camp went and so now he gets an opportunity at some point, maybe tonight to show what he can do. He’s a big guy, he’s got a quick release. He needs to use his size, his physicality, all of his tools to try and generate offense.”

Thursday night, Leason got the call from Hershey Bears head coach Scott Allen that he was headed up to the big club.

“It’s a tricky situation obviously with Dowder going down,” Leason said Friday. “Coach just came up to me and said ‘be ready, you never know what can happen’, so if I get to go tonight for the first one I’ll be excited. Just gonna play my game, use my speed, use my skill, just do what the team needs.”

If Leason were to go, the Capitals would have four rookies in their lineup including Leason, Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, and Martin Fehervary.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB