Washington Capitals will be without Ilya Samsonov in Toronto
The Washington Capitals won’t have backup goalie Ilya Samsonov in the postseason.
The Washington Capitals will be traveling to Toronto without the services of goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who was spectacular in his first NHL season. According to NHL.com writer Tom Gulitti, the Russian-born goaltender sustained an injury prior to the resumption of this pandemic-halted campaign.
Samsonov was brilliant during the shortened season, posting a 16-6-2 record, with a 2.55 GAA and a .913% save percentage to go along with one shutout. He stabilized the Capitals’ goaltending situation, giving them a capable netminder to replace the struggling veteran Braden Holtby during the toughest season of his career.
Often times team’s goaltending dilemmas solve themselves, as is now the case in Washington, as the once perceived battle between Holtby and Samsonov has been extinguished. The net is once again Holtby’s, but if his struggles continue, the Capitals may find themselves jousted out of Cup contention sooner than anticipated.
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The 10-year veteran posted a 25-14-6 record, numbers which masks career worsts in goals-against average (3.11) and save percentage (.897%). Despite his past playoff prowess, the inconsistency of Holtby this season made Samsonov feel as though he was a commodity the Capitals could ill-afford to lose.
Now the backup duties fall on the shoulders of 28-year-old Phoenix Copley, a goaltender who has seen time at the NHL level but was relegated to the AHL after the emergence of the Ilya Samsonov this season.
Copley put up steady numbers for the Hershey Bears in the AHL this season, going 17-8-6 with a 2.47 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He never could run away with the starter spot, however, getting outplayed by counterpart Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek, who is a candidate for the backup role as well, had a 19-10-1 record, with a 2.26 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
The edge in the race to replace Samsonov for the Washington Capitals has to go to Copley, mainly because of his NHL experience. The Capitals are hoping Holtby regains his form and plays well enough that a backup becomes a moot position, but in the situation that the number two gets called upon, Copley seems to be the more suitable option.
The Capitals are as deep a team as any in the NHL, and due to their regular season performance have the luxury have the round-robin as opposed to the play-in. Samsonov was a luxury that the Washington Capitals needed during the season and planned on having as a fallback option come postseason.
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With the injury, all of Washington’s hopes fall onto Braden Holtby, a man who has brought them a Stanley Cup with his phenomenal goaltending, but looked rather pedestrian in 2019-2020. Can the Holtby of years past resurface? The Capitals surely hope so.