The Washington Capitals, who will play their final game of the regular season on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, made a flurry of roster moves in the morning and later changed up the lines during practice to accommodate several players who were still missing.
By Ian Oland 2 days ago
TJ Oshie will make an emotional return back to the lineup after missing Monday’s Rangers game to be with his father, Tim, before his death.
The Capitals will be wearing special ‘Coach’ stickers on their helmets to honor Tim’s passing.
A day after being suspended by the Capitals for discplinary reasons, Evgeny Kuznetsov has landed on the NHL’s COVID-19 Unavailability List for the second time this season.
The news was reported by NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
By Ian Oland 1 week ago
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov appear to be in some major hot water with the team.
A day after the Capitals suspended Kuznetsov and Samsonov for disciplinary reasons — the team said they were late to a team function — Peter Laviolette indicated the players may not be allowed to suit up Wednesday night against the Rangers either.
Laviolette made the comments after the team’s optional practice on Tuesday.
By Ian Oland 1 week ago
Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson will return to the lineup against the New York Rangers on Monday after missing four and two games respectively. Both players had undisclosed lower-body injuries.
While that’s good news, the Capitals will still end up playing one man short tonight. TJ Oshie is missing the game due to personal reasons while Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov were suspended by the team due to disciplinary reasons.
Here’s a head-scratcher: Forward Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalie Ilya Samsonov will not play in tonight’s game against the Rangers.
The Caps say the decision for them not to play was a “team decision” for “disciplinary reasons.”
Uh oh.
By Peter Hassett 1 week ago
Vitek Vanecek will start against the New York Rangers Monday night. Once Vitek takes the ice at Madison Square Garden, he will have started in nearly double the games (33) as Ilya Samsonov (18) despite this being the season Sammy was supposed to take the reins of the Capitals full-time starter’s role.
Months after fully recovering from a reported ATV accident early in 2020, Samsonov contracted coronavirus in mid-January 2021 and missed over a month of the regular season. Since then, he has played his way back into game shape (which included a conditioning stint in Hershey) and has mostly regained his top form. But he still hasn’t reclaimed the top spot from Vanecek. Samsonov started one game in February, seven of 14 in March, and only six of 15 in April.
With a playoff starter unnamed and hard to prognosticate, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette was asked about the situation after the morning skate. Lavy admitted that the team still had not made up its mind on who the starting goalie would be, but said the team will announce one before the postseason begins.
Saturday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was a tedious waste, as poor Chris C. was obligated to document. The Capitals were shut out, lost for now their grasp for the division lead, and were generally pretty miserable.
But at least we learned something from the experience. We know now, once for all, who should be Washington’s starting goalie for the playoffs.
By Peter Hassett 1 week ago
Not only is it crunch time for the Washington Capitals as a team, but it’s also crunch time for the team’s two goaltenders: Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.
Samsonov, who came into this season as the team’s number one starter, missed nearly two months of the season due to COVID-19. Sammy’s sickness combined with Henrik Lundqvist’s open-heart surgery forced Washington to turn to Vanecek, who had spent the previous five seasons with the Hershey Bears. Vanecek’s performed admirably in net, winning 17 of his 30 starts.
Saturday, Peter Laviolette will turn to Samsonov for a rare consecutive start. It’s only (if I’m doing my math right) the third time he’s done so in his career.
Ilya Samsonov accomplished a rare piece of history in the Capitals’ 1-0 victory against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
According to the Capitals PR, Samsonov is the first goaltender in Capitals franchise history to record a shutout in a shootout win.
