Washington Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov reportedly sustained an injury prior to the resumption of the season. He won’t travel to Toronto for the playoffs and will stay in Washington rehabbing his injury to get healthy for next season.
News: Ilya Samsonov sustained an injury prior to the resumption of the 2019-20 NHL season, per team.
Samsonov will not travel to Toronto and will remain in Washington to continue undergoing treatment. The Caps expect him to be healthy for 20/21 season.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) July 25, 2020
Samsonov Hurt for the Playoffs
Ilya Samsonov was a 22-year-old rookie goaltender this season for the Capitals. In 26 games played, he won 16 games and posted a 2.55 goals-against-average and a .913 save percentage. Veteran goaltender Braden Holtby was the Capitals’ starter but he had worse stats than Samsonov, posting a 3.11 goals-against-average and a .897 save percentage.
It is unknown what Samsonov’s injury is. The league prohibited teams from disclosing why players are not playing because they don’t want the public to know if the reason is because a player tested positive for COVID-19.
What This Means for the Future
The Washington Capitals were in a good position goaltending wise heading into the playoffs. They have Holtby who backstopped them to a Stanley Cup in 2018. But Holtby has not had a good season and if that continued in the playoffs then they could have turned to Samsonov. With Samsonov now hurt, the Capitals no longer have that luxury.
Washington’s new backup should be Pheonix Copley who served as the Capitals’ backup last year and did a good job. He won 16 out of the 17 games he participated in and posted a 2.90 goals-against-average and a .905 save percentage.
The good news for Washington fans is Holtby has been great in the playoffs over the past two seasons. In the 2017-18 regular season he posted a 2.99 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage which were the worst stats of his career to that point. He responded by winning 16 out of 23 playoff games and posted a 2.16 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage. He made a humongous save in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final to help Washington tie the series.
Washington was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year, but Holtby was solid. He posted a solid 2.67 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage. Having past playoff success and being the undisputed number-one goaltender could give Holtby the confidence to recapture his game.
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