From Wednesday’s morning skate, it appears that the starting goalie for Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs will be rookie Ilya Samsonov.
Braden Holtby was pulled from Monday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche after allowing three goals on three shots.
By Peter Hassett 4 weeks ago
The early part of any NHL season can be chaotic. The Capitals started the season with a difficult schedule and have two new defensemen playing full time (Jonas Siegenthaler and Tyler Lewington). The team is still finding itself. So reaching strong conclusions about individual players — especially goaltenders, who are prone to more volatility than skaters — so soon in the season is generally unwise.
But Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden was asked to do so on Monday night. The press asked Reirden if rookie goalie Ilya Samsonov has earned playing time over 30-year-old veteran Braden Holtby. It’s a storyline that’s impossible to ignore right now.
Todd Reirden has a delicate situation to manage this season. Braden Holtby, the Washington Capitals’ incumbent starter, is one of the best goaltenders in the league, a leader in the locker room, and has started 54 or more games in five straight seasons. The Vezina Trophy winner is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and will likely a net a salary at $10 million per season.
Then there’s Ilya Samsonov. The first-round pick surprisingly made the team out of Training Camp and will be Holtby’s understudy this season after Pheonix Copley was put on waivers and loaned to the Hershey Bears. Samsonov needs starts to develop. The young Russian could be the team’s goaltender of the future.
Capitals’ senior writer Mike Vogel asked Reirden how he’d split the starts this season.
Though the Capitals kept most of their Cup-winning roster from 2018, their biggest change was behind the bench, where Todd Reirden took over as head coach.
By Peter Hassett 5 months ago
Head coach Todd Reirden and the players who spoke with the media after the Game Seven double-overtime loss to the Hurricanes were exhausted, disappointed, and visibly upset.
But we’re here for the team when they win and we’re here for the team when they lose. Misery loves company. Let’s embrace the pain together, Caps fam.
By Brennin Weiswerda 7 months ago
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was basically ejected from the Capitals’ 5-2 loss in Game Six.
Ovechkin gave a sarcastic clap to officials and unleashed a torrent of profanities after being whistled for slashing Saku Maenalanen with 1:08 remaining in the third period. Referees responded in kind by giving Ovechkin a 10-minute misconduct, sending the future Hall of Famer to the showers early.
After the game, Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said that while Ovechkin could have handled the situation differently, he admired Ovechkin’s passion for the game.
TJ Oshie was one of the Capitals’ best players during their Stanley Cup run in 2018, scoring 21 points in 24 games. This year, if the Caps are to repeat, they’ll likely have to do it without him.
On Saturday, Caps head coach Todd Reirden announced that Oshie will miss Game Five and is out “indefinitely.”
By Ian Oland 7 months ago
Wednesday morning, Capitals senior reporter, Mike Vogel, tweeted that Dmitrij Jaskin was missing practice because he was going to be placed on waivers at noon.
Instead, the Capitals pulled a switch, and placed Devante Smith-Pelly on waivers instead, forcing DSP off the ice.
That change came mid-practice because there are a lot of “moving parts,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said.
By Ian Oland and Julia Karron 9 months ago
I write a lot of game recaps, and those recaps have a section where I summarize all the goals that got scored, and I realized lately I’ve been using the word “rush” a lot in that section. For example, on Tuesday two of the three goals Columbus scored came on the rush, continuing a pattern we’ve been seeing all season.
The Caps have problems with their transition game, and they’re paying for it on defense. Whatever Brian MacLellan does to improve the team between now and the deadline should be paired with fixes to the x‘s and o‘s of Washington’s neutral-zone system.
By Peter Hassett 9 months ago
On Monday evening, the Capitals held the 13th annual Hockey ‘N Heels event. The event, which is exclusive to members of the Scarlet Caps, is a special evening dedicated to the team’s female fans.
The evening featured instructional sessions from a handful of Capitals and off-ice presentations, including a question and answer session with USA gold medal-winning Olympian Haley Skarupa.
By Cara Bahniuk 9 months ago
