Home / News / Ilya Samsonov: ‘I think I play bad’ against Capitals. That was a ‘hard loss for me.’

Ilya Samsonov: ‘I think I play bad’ against Capitals. That was a ‘hard loss for me.’

By Chris Cerullo

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December 18, 2022 2:48 pm

Former Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov was in net for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday for his first game in DC since being non-tendered by the Caps over the offseason.

Unlike his successful first start against the Caps in Toronto earlier this season, Samsonov was far less effective and struggled during the 5-2 loss inside Capital One Arena. The five goals against were a season-high with the Leafs.

Samsonov spoke postgame about playing his former team and how he felt about his return game.

“Hard loss for me,” Samsonov said. “I think I play bad this game. Couple bad bounces but we need to get working. We’re coming back tomorrow and back to work again. For my game, I need to play better.”

In Sammy’s first start back in front of Capitals fans, he made just 23 saves on 28 shots against. MoneyPuck had him saving 2.3 fewer goals than expected. A less than ideal appearance that may have been impacted by the circumstances.

“I have nervous, a lot of emotion,” Samsonov said. “The result not too great.”

At one point during the first period, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had a net-front chance that he just couldn’t get enough on to put past Samsonov. A goal there would have tied Ovi with Gordie Howe for second in all-time NHL goals scored. The former teammates exchanged words after the whistle. Ovechkin could be seen smiling.

“Just he said, ‘Almost score, yea,’ nothing crazy,” Samsonov said of the encounter.

During that first period, the Capitals also welcomed back their former netminder on the Capital One Arena jumbotron. Caps fans gave the backstop a nice ovation.

“Yeah, I see it,” Samsonov said. “Thank you so much. Thank you, Washington fans. Fans on my heart all the time.”

In 12 starts this season for the Maple Leafs, Samsonov has a 9-3 record with a stellar 1.98 goals-against average and a sparkling .929 save percentage. Both of those latter totals rank second in the league among qualified netminders.

Screenshot via Toronto Maple Leafs