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Tag: Ilya Samsonov

  • Capitals Injury Report and Notes

    Capitals Injury Report and Notes

    The Washington Capitals are starting to get banged up as today senior vice president and general manager Briam MacLellan has announced the following moves:

     

    Placed on Injured Reserve

    Carl Hagelin (LTIR, eligible to be activated on Dec. 2nd)

    Nic Dowd (IR, eligible to be activated on Nov. 21st)

     

    Re-assigned to Hershey

    Vitek Vanecek (G)

     

    Called Up from Hershey

    Beck Malenstyn (F)

    Michael Sgarbossa (F)

    Tyler Lewington (D)

    Ilya Samsonov (G)

     

    Will Not Play Tonight

    Nicklas Backstrom (F, Upper Body)

     

     

    With the following moves the Capitals are feeling the sting of their injuries and crunch of the salary cap as well. Plus with Garnet Hathaway’s status for tonight and possible other games in doubt until after his hearing, it’s suffice to say that tonight’s lineup against the New York Rangers will be an interesting one to see.

     

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  • Game Recap – 11/11/2019 – Arizona Coyotes v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 11/11/2019 – Arizona Coyotes v. Washington Capitals

    Arizona Coyotes (9-6-2 20pts) v. Washington Capitals (13-2-9 29pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals break out the retro reds as they play host to the Arizona Coyotes. In the first period both teams would start the period with some very close chances but both Antti Raanta and Ilya Samsonov would be up to the task. Then much later in the period the Capitals would take the first penalty, but the Coyotes would not strike until after the powerplay had concluded as Vinnie Hinostroza would throw the puck on net and Clayton Keller would knock in the rebound to take the 1-0 lead. The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity, but they would not be able to capitalize on the opportunity.

     

    In the second period the Coyotes would strike twice in 45 seconds as Christian Fischer would score his first of the season, after an officials review, 12 seconds into the game, and then 33 seconds later Michael Grabner would take advantage of a TJ Oshie turnover to go on the breakway and put it five hole on Samsonov for the 3-0 lead. However, the Capitals would finally respond as Evgeny Kuznetsov would break past the Coyotes to score and cut the deficit to two. With 29 seconds left the Capitals would draw a powerplay, and would start the third period with the extra man.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would not capitalize on the powerplay opportunity to start the period, but after a bad icing call for the Coyotes, Kuznetsov would score his second of the game to cut the Coyotes lead to one. The Capitals would get another powerplay opportunity, but the Capitals would once again waste another powerplay. Then late in the third with Ilya Samsonov pulled the Capitals would tie this one up as TJ Oshie would knock in the loose puck to tie the game at three.

     

    In overtime the Capitals thought they would have it won on a TJ Oshie marker, but the Coyotes would challenge for offsides on the play, and the Coyotes would win the challenge forcing the game to continue. Then in the shootout the Coyotes would get goals from Nick Schmaltz and Conor Garland to win the game 4-3.

     

    Lineups:

    Arizona Coyotes:

    Christian Dvorak — Nick Schmaltz — Phil Kessel

    Clayton Keller — Derek Stepan — Vinnie Hinostroza

    Lawson Crouse — Carl Soderberg — Conor Garland

    Michael Grabner — Brad Richardson — Christian Fischer

    Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Jason Demers

    Jakob Chychrun — Alex Goligoski

    Aaron Ness — Jordan Oesterle

    Antti Raanta

    Darcy Kuemper

    Scratched: Barrett Hayton, Ilya Lyubushkin

    Injured: Niklas Hjalmarsson (lower body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Chandler Stephenson — Lars Eller — Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Ilya Samsonov

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: None

    Injured: Carl Hagelin (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    WAS Penalty – 10:54 – Jakub Vrana 2 minutes for Slashing

    ARI Goal – 14:15 – Clayton Keller (3) from Vinnie Hinostroza (4) and Alex Goligoski (10)

    ARI Penalty – 15:00 – Nick Schmaltz 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st

    11-11 v ARI.png

     

    Second Period:

    ARI Goal – :12 – Christian Fischer (1) from Brad Richardson (2)

    ARI Goal – :45 – Michael Grabner (6) from unassisted

    WAS Goal – 8:47 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (7) from Jakub Vrana (8) and Tom Wilson (8)

    ARI Penalty – 19:31 – Jason Demers 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 2nd

    11-11 v ARI-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    WAS Goal – 2:23 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (8) from Michal Kempny (8)

    ARI Penalty – 5:33 – Derek Stepan 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Penalty – 9:49 – TJ Oshie 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS Goal – 18:44 – TJ Oshie (9) from Alex Ovechkin (10) and John Carlson (21)

     

    End of 3rd

    11-11 v ARI-3.png

     

    Overtime:

    N/A

     

    Shootout:

    1 – WAS – TJ Oshie – Save

    1 – ARI – Nick Schmaltz – Goal

    2 – WAS – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Missed

    2 – ARI – Conor Garland – Goal

     

    Final

    11-11 v ARI-4.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (13-2-4 30pts) @ Philadelphia (10-5-2 22pts)

    Arizona (10-6-2 22pts) @ St. Louis (12-3-3 27pts)

  • Game Recap – 11/3/2019 – Calgary Flames v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 11/3/2019 – Calgary Flames v. Washington Capitals

    Calgary Flames (8-6-2 18pts) v. Washington Capitals (10-2-3 23pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    In Washington the Capitals take on the Calgary Flames for the second and final time of the 2019-20 season, and after celebrating the Washington Nationals and their World Series Championship victory it would be the Flames crashing the party after a poor Dmitry Orlov pass was picked off by Matthew Tkachuk and he would quickly pass it to Andrew Mangiapane who would get it past Ilya Samsonov for the early 1-0 lead. However, the Capitals would respond in kind as Evgeny Kuznetsov would utilize his speed to generate an odd man rush and feed Jakub Vrana for the tap in to tie the game at one. The with less than five minutes left in the first period Dmitry Orlov would rip off an outlet pass to keep it in the zone and Jakub Vrana would let one rip to score his second of the game to give the Capitals their first lead of the game, but right before the buzzer went off to end the period the Flames would strike when Elias Lindhold would deflect a point shot past Samsonov with two seconds left in the period to send the game into the intermission tied 2-2.

     

    In the second period it would be a very back and forth period with not a lot of action, however, with five minutes left in the period Kznetsov would breakout Vrana who would collect his rebound and get it past Cam Talbot to collect his first career hat trick and retake the lead for the Capitals as they took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would get an early powerplay when Mikael Backlund would be called for tripping and near the end of the powerplay with their secind unit Tom Wilson was able to move the puck across the slot to Lars Eller who would roof it past Talbot to grow the Capitals lead to two. Then both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but with the Flames on their second opportunity the Capitals would shut them down as they would take the 4-2 victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Calgary Flames:

    Johnny Gaudreau — Sean Monahan — Elias Lindholm

    Matthew Tkachuk — Mikael Backlund — Michael Frolik

    Andrew Mangiapane — Derek Ryan — Sam Bennett

    Tobias Rieder — Mark Jankowski — Alan Quine

    Mark Giordano — TJ Brodie

    Noah Hanifin — Travis Hamonic

    Oliver Kylington — Rasmus Andersson

    Cam Talbot

    David Rittich

    Scratched: Michael Stone

    Injured: Austin Czarnik (lower body)

    Suspended: Milan Lucic

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic – Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Jonas Siegenthaler — Nick Jensen

    Ilya Samsonov

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Tyler Lewington, Liam O’Brien

    Injured: Richard Panik (upper body), Nic Dowd (lower body)

     

    First Period:

    CAL Goal – 5:40 – Andrew Mangiapane (3) from Matthew Tkachuk (8)

    WAS Goal – 11:01 – Jakub Vrana (7) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (5) and Tom Wilson (6)

    WAS Goal – 15:08 – Jakub Vrana (8) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (6) and Dmitry Orlov (6)

    CAL Goal – 19:58 – Elias Lindholm (10) from Oliver Kylington (1) and Andrew Mangiapane (3)

     

    End of 1st

    11-03 v CAL.png

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Penalty – 9:43 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Roughing

    CAL Penalty – 9:43 – Andrew Mangiapane 2 minutes for Roughing

    WAS Goal – 15:05 – Jakub Vrana (9) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (7) and Michal Kempny (6)

     

    End of 2nd

    11-03 v CAL-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    CAL Penalty – :55 – Mikael Backlund 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS PPG – 2:20 – Lars Eller (5) from Tom Wilson (7)

    WAS Penalty – 7:39 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Tripping

    CAL Penalty – 15:32 – Alan Quine 2 minutes for Interference

    WAS Penalty – 19:03 – Dmitry Orlov 2 minutes for Delay of Game

     

    End of 3rd

    11-03 v CAL-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (11-2-3 25pts) @ Florida (7-3-4 18pts)

    Calgary (8-7-2 18pts) v. Arizona (8-4-1 17pts)

  • Game Recap – 10/16/2019 – Toronto Maple Leafs v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 10/16/2019 – Toronto Maple Leafs v. Washington Capitals

    Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-1 9pts) v. Washington Capitals (3-2-2 8pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming off a bad outing against Colorado the other day for their holiday matinee, the Washington Capitals look to turn things around as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs. To start the game the Capitals would get an early powerplay when Morgan Reilly would trip Brendan Leipsic, but after several failed entry attempts it would be the Maple Leafs striking while shorthanded as Trevor Moore would feed Kasperi Kapanen to give the Leafs the early 1-0 lead. The Capitals would get a couple good chances, but the Leafs would strike again as Ilya Mikheyev would break past the defense and beat Ilya Samsonov to make it 2-0 for the Maple Leafs. After both teams traded chances, in the final 61 seconds John Carlson would draw in the Leafs and hit a beautiful seam pass to Jakub Vrana who would one time the puck past Michael Hutchison to make it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would build off of their late first period goal as they would score three goals in 78 seconds as Evgeny Kuznetsov would get Hutchinson out of position to slide the puck of the goal line, then Nicklas Backstrom would rip a one timer past Hutchinson to give the Capitals the 3-2 lead, and then while on a two man advantage John Carlson would blast a bullet from the point to give the Capitals the 4-2 lead. After the Capitals three goal explosion the game would go back and forth with some chances at both ends, but the Capitals would hold the Leafs off the board during the second period to keep their 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

     

    Entering the third period the Capitals would be short a forward and a defenseman as both Richard Panik and Jonas Siegenthaler would be pulled from the game due to upper body injuries.as the period went on both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but neither would capitalize on their respective opportunities. Then, with the goalie pulled, the Maple Leafs would get back on the board as John Tavares would rip one past Ilya Samsonov, but the LEafs could not get one more as the Capitals win 4-3.

     

    Lineups:

    Toronto Maple Leafs:

    Kasperi Kapanen — John Tavares — Mitchell Marner

    Andreas Johnsson — Auston Matthews — William Nylander

    Ilya Mikheyev — Alexander Kerfoot — Trevor Moore

    Dmytro Timashov — Nicholas Shore — Frederik Gauthier

    Morgan Rielly — Cody Ceci

    Jake Muzzin — Tyson Barrie

    Martin Marincin — Justin Holl

    Michael Hutchinson

    Frederik Andersen

    Scratched: Nic Petan, Jason Spezza, Kevin Gravel

    Injured: Zach Hyman (knee), Travis Dermott (shoulder)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Chandler Stephenson — Richard Panik

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Nick Jensen — Tyler Lewington

    Ilya Samsonov

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Nic Dowd

    Injured: Michal Kempny (hamstring)

     

    First Period:

    TOR Penalty – 2:52 – Morgan Reilly 2 minutes for Tripping

    TOR SHG – 4:37 – Kasperi Kapanen (1) from Trevor Moore (2)

    TOR Goal – 10:58 – Ilya Mikheyev (3) from Kasperi Kapanen (3) and Justin Holl (2)

    WAS Goal – 18:59 – Jakub Vrana (3) from John Carlson (10) and Garnet Hathaway (3)

     

    End of 1st

    10-16 v TOR.png

     

    Second Period:

    TOR Penalty – 1:13 – Morgan Reilly 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Goal – 5:07 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) from John Carlson (11) and Carl Hagelin (1)

    WAS Goal – 5:18 – Nicklas Backstrom (2) from TJ Oshie (2) and Nick Jensen (2)

    TOR Penalty – 5:36 – Nick Shore 2 minutes for Interference

    TOR Penalty – 5:45 – Cody Ceci 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    WAS PPG – 6:25 – John Carlson (3) from Alexander Ovechkin (3) and Nicklas Backstrom (5)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-16 v TOR-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    TOR Penalty – 10:10 – Auston Matthews 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS Penalty – 13:04 – Carl Hagelin 2 minutes for Hooking

    TOR Goal – 17:27 – John Tavares (3) from Jake Muzzin (3)

     

    End of 3rd

    10-16 v TOR-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (4-2-2 10pts) v. NY Rangers (2-1-0 4pts)

    Toronto (4-3-1 9pts) v. Boston (5-1-0 10pts)

     

    Sponsored by:

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  • Game Recap – 10/14/2019 – Colorado Avalanche v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 10/14/2019 – Colorado Avalanche v. Washington Capitals

    Colorado Avalanche (4-0-0 8pts) v. Washington Capitals (3-1-2 8pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming home for a three game homestand the Washington Capitals host the Colorado Avalanche, and less than four minutes into the game it would be the Avalanche getting on the board first as Erik Johnson would rip it from the point and have it beat Braden Holtby to give the Avalanche the 1-0 lead. Then the Avalanche would strike two more times, first from Nikita Zadorov, and then less than two minutes later Nazem Kadri would victimize Holtby as he would give up his third goal on the Avalanche’s third shot of the game which would force Todd Reirden to send in Ilya Samsonov. However, it would not matter as while shorthanded on a Jonas Siegenthaler cross checking penalty the Avalanche would strike on the powerplay with a Mikko Rantanen marker. After the Rantanen marker Tyler Lewington would look to get the Capitals back into this game as he would scrap with Valeri Nichushkin, but the Capitals would not capitalize on the fight as they enter the first intermission down 4-0.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would pick up the physicality, and in turn would start generating more shots on goal. A little less than seven minutes into the period Alex Ovechkin would force the turnover and get the puck to Lars Eller who would break Philipp Grubauer’s shutout bid. Then TJ Oshie would deke out Grubauer to cut the Avalanche’s lead to two as they would hold onto a 4-2 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period the Capitals would start off flying, but a couple mistakes and an Ilya Samsonov turnover would allow the Avalanche back into the game as Matt Nieto would score his first of the season to give the Avalanche the 5-2 lead. However, the Capitals would get a late powerplay opportunity and they would pull Samsonov to which right off the faceoff following a timeout Alex Ovechkin would rip one from the point to cut the Capitals deficit to two. Then the Capitals would strike again with a John Carlson marker, but it would be called back after a Coach’s Challenge for offsides, which was the correct call as TJ Oshie was in the zone before the puck was. But it would be Nathan MacKinnon icing the game for the Avalanche as he would hit the empty net to give the Avalanche the 6-3 victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Colorado Avalanche:

    Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen

    Joonas Donskoi — Nazem Kadri — Andre Burakovsky

    Matt Nieto — Tyson Jost — Colin Wilson

    Matt Calvert — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Valeri Nichushkin

    Samuel Girard — Erik Johnson

    Nikita Zadorov — Cale Makar

    Ryan Graves — Ian Cole

    Philipp Grubauer

    Pavel Francouz

    Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Vladislav Kamenev, Mark Barberio

    Injured: J.T. Compher (lower body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen

    Radko Gudas – Tyler Lewington

    Braden Holtby

    Ilya Samsonov

    Scratched: Chandler Stephenson

    Injured: Michal Kempny (hamstring)

     

    First Period:

    COL Goal – 3:42 – Erik Johnson (1) from Nazem Kadri (1) and Andre Burakovsky (3)

    COL Goal – 6:00 – Nikita Zadorov (1) from Mikko Rantanen (4) and Nathan MacKinnon (6)

    COL Goal – 7:54 – Nazem Kadri (2) from Joonas Donskoi (1) and Cale Makar (6)

    WAS Penalty – 11:11 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Cross Checking

    COL PPG – 9:25 – Mikko Rantanen (4) from Gabriel Landeskog (3) and Nazem Kadri (2)

    COL Penalty – 9:44 – Valeri Nichushkin 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington 5 minute major for Fighting

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington (Jakub Vrana) 2 minute minor for Instigating

    WAS Penalty – 9:44 – Tyler Lewington 10 minute Misconduct

    WAS Penalty – 16:28 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 1st

    10-14 v COL.png

     

    Second Period:

    COL Penalty – :50 – Nikita Zadorov 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS Penalty – 1:45 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for High Sticking

    WAS Penalty – 5:06 – Tom Wilson 2 minutes for Hooking

    COL Penalty – 5:06 – Samuel Girard 2 minutes for Embellishment

    WAS Goal – 6:56 – Lars Eller (2) from Alex Ovechkin (2)

    WAS Goal – 15:28 – TJ Oshie (4) from Dmitry Orlov (2) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (2)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-14 v COL-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    COL Goal – 4:24 – Matt Nieto (1) from Tyson Jost (1)

    COL Penalty – 15:39 – Gabriel Landeskog 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS PPG – 17:39 – Alex Ovechkin (5) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) and John Carlson (9)

    COL ENG – 19:21 – Nathan MacKinnon (2) from Mikko Rantanen (5)

     

    End of 3rd

    10-14 v COL-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (3-2-2 8pts) v. Toronto (3-2-1 7pts)

    Colorado (5-0-0 10pts) @ Pittsburgh (4-2-0 8pts)

     

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  • Game Recap – 10/4/2019 – Washington Capitals v. New York Islanders

    Game Recap – 10/4/2019 – Washington Capitals v. New York Islanders

    Washington Capitals (1-0-0 2pts) v. New York Islanders (0-0-0 0pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    The Washington Capitals head to Long Island as the New York Islanders open up their season at Nassau Coliseum. For the first half of this game the Capitals would show some glimpses of offense, but it would be the Islanders who would control the play in the Capitals zone a little more than the Capitals would have liked. However, the Capitals would be the first to respond as Jakub Vrana would come down the wing and rip the puck past Semyon Varlamov to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead. But the lead wouldn’t last long as 2 minutes and 2 seconds later Devon Toews would tie the game at one after his shot would take an unfortunate bounce off of Radko Gudas’ skate and go past Ilya Samsonov. After both teams would trade goals in the midway part of the period, the pace of the game would slow down and the game would remain tied 1-1 going into the first intermission.

     

    In the second period both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but neither would be able to convert on their opportunities. The Capitals in particular looked very sloppy, especially with their second unit. After being outworked by the Islanders for the majority of the period the Capitals would draw another powerplay and this time they would capitalize on this opportunity as TJ Oshie would find the loose puck and backhand it in while falling for the puck to give the Capitals the 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    In the third period we would have a very back and forth period as both teams looked to get their chances to try to get on the board. Still down by one the Islanders would pull Varlamov to gain the extra attacker, but the Capitals would shut it down and Ilya Samsonov would record his first career NHL victory.

     

    Lineups:

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana – Lars Eller – TJ Oshie

    Carl Hagelin – Chandler Stephenson – Richard Panik

    Brendan Leipsic – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway

    Jonas Siegenthaler – John Carlson

    Dmitri Orlov – Nick Jensen

    Martin Fehervary – Radko Gudas

    Ilya Samsonov

    Braden Holtby

     

    New York Islanders:

    Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Jordan Eberle

    Michael Dal Colle – Brock Nelson – Josh Bailey

    Anthony Beauvillier – Derick Brassard – Leo Komarov

    Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

    Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock

    Devon Toews – Scott Mayfield

    Nick Leddy – Johnny Boychuk

    Semyon Varlamov

    Thomas Greiss

     

    First Period:

    WAS Goal – 10:25 – Jakub Vrana (2) from Lars Eller (3) and Radko Gudas

    NYI Goal – 12:27 – Devon Toews (1) from Anthony Beauvillier (1)

     

    End of 1st

    10-04 at NYI

     

    Second Period:

    WAS Penalty – 2:23 – Lars Eller 2 minutes for Hooking

    NYI Penalty – 6:00 – Brock Nelson 2 minutes for Tripping

    NYI Penalty – 16:48 – Brock Nelson 2 minutes for Hooking

    WAS PPG – 17:43 – TJ Oshie (1) from John Carlson (3) and Nicklas Backstrom (1)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-04 at NYI-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    N/A

     

    End of 3rd

    10-04 at NYI-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (2-0-0 4pts) v. Carolina (1-0-0 2pts)

    NY Islanders (0-1-0 0pts) v. Winnipeg (0-0-0 0pts)

     

    Sponsored by:

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  • It’s #ALLCAPS in New York; Capitals v Islanders

    It’s #ALLCAPS in New York; Capitals v Islanders

    Washington Capitals (1-0-0) v. New York Islanders (0-0-0)

      Record Predicted Goaltender
    Washington Capitals 1-0-0 (2019-20)Ilya Samsonov
    New York Islanders 5-2-0 (preseason)Semyon Varlamov

    *Full disclosure: this might give you a headache at first, so bear with me on this one.

    Washington Capitals’ newest back-up goaltender Ilya Samsonov is getting his first regular season NHL start against former Washington Capitals’ net-minder Semyon Varlamov, who now plays for former Washington Capitals’ head-coach Barry Trotz. Say that five times fast, and let me know if you can still remember who’s who.

    The Washington Capitals crashed the party on Wednesday, where they played the reigning Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues on the night of their combined Home Opener-Banner Raising. After falling behind two goals to none, just eight minutes into the contest, the Capitals made a comeback in what played much like an actual Stanley Cup Playoff game. Veteran netminder Braden Holtby allowed two soft goals, one just 53 seconds into the game, and a power play goal just short of the eight-minute mark. However, a goal from none other than The ‘GR8’ Alexander Ovechkin and a 2nd period power play goal from Dmitry ‘Scorlov’ Orlov got the good guys back in the game, and it took overtime for the score to be settled. Jakub Vrana, perhaps one of the best skaters of the night for the Capitals, would be the one to break a 28-minute tie in overtime with a perfectly calculated shot that Blues’ net-minder Jordan Binnington probably wishes he could get back. 19-year old Slovakian rookie defenseman Martin Fehervary made his NHL debut, but was able to handle the pressure as good as anyone could have hoped. Mistakes were made, which are to be expected, but Fehervary proved to us all why he deserves a roster spot. And hey, if the Capitals’ coaching staff are excited about him, well we are too. A little birdy told me that Fehervary received the iconic “hard hat” after Wednesday nights’ game, which coincidentally is a Nationals’ batting helmet (Tarik_ElBashir).

    Tonight, the New York Islanders will be playing in their home opener at the Nassau Coliseum, one of 27 games to be played on Long Island this season. The Islanders are currently transitioning to play the majority of their home games at the Coliseum, as opposed to Barclays Center, which has been ‘home base’ since 2015. In the meantime, work has just begun on the Islanders’ new arena, to be built at Belmont Park, Elmont, Long Island, New York. Fans are thrilled to bring Islanders hockey back to the Island, and to a considerably more commuter- and home-town fan-friendly location than both the Coliseum and Barclays Center. Last season, the New York Islanders found themselves in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, and stunned fans from around the league when they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, only to be swept themselves by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second (yes, those Hurricanes). Over the summer, the Isles lost goaltender Robin Lehner to Chicago, who had played a pivotal role in the teams’ success during the 2018-19 season, but held on to Thomas Greiss, and acquired Semyon Varlamov from the Colorado Avalanche through free agency. Drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2006, Varlamov played 3 seasons in Washington (2008-2011), and in 2009, helped the Capitals advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1998. In 2011, Varlamov was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, where he played for 8 seasons, and given struggles with poor performance and injuries, the Russian goaltender maintained a 183-156-38 record, and averaged a .915 SV% (NHL.com).

    Many Caps’ fans, just like Ilya Samsonov himself, have been anticipating this very moment for a quite a while now; the first chance to see the other Russian net-minder snag the back-up goalie spot for the Washington Capitals. Samsonov, a 2015 1st round draft pick by the Washington Capitals spent last season in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, and showed lots of promise through two preseason games, both of which were tallied as wins. On September 18th, where he split a win with Vitek Vanecek, versus the St. Louis Blues, Samsonov stopped 12 of 13 shots faced, and in a stand-alone win on the 21st versus Carolina, allowed two goals on 15 shots (TheScore, Samsonov). Alex Ovechkin, with one goal through one game thus far, is by default, on pace to score 82 goals this season. We’d be satisfied with another 50-goal season, but if a goal-a-game is what it takes to win another Rocket Richard Trophy in a league with so many prolific goal-scorers, (and maybe another Art Ross… or Stanley Cup), whatever it takes, right?

    Some good news on Caps’ defenseman Michal Kempny. Per Isabelle Khurshudyan, Kempny did in fact practice yesterday morning with the Capitals in a full-contact jersey, but head-coach Todd Reirden did in fact rule the blue-liner out of today’s line-up versus the Islanders (ikhurshudyan). It is to be determined if he will play in the Capitals’ home opener on Saturday, October 5th.

    Finally, last year’s back-up goaltender Pheonix Copley cleared waivers, and has been loaned to the Hershey Bears.

    Coverage of the game begins at 6:00pm with Caps Faceoff Live, followed by Caps Pregame Live at 6:30pm, all on NBCSN/NBCSWA, with puck drop shortly after 7:00pm.

     

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    Ikhurshudyan. (2019). Kempny is out tomorrow. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/1179813315058556928?s=20.

    NHL.com. (2019). Semyon Varlamov. Retrieved from https://www.nhl.com/player/semyon-varlamov-8473575?stats=career-r-nhl&season=null.

    Tarik_ElBashir. (2019). Here’s #Caps Coach Todd Reirden casually revealing that the team hard hat is a #Nats batting helmet. It went to rookie Martin Fehervary after Wednesday’s season opening OT victory in STL. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/Tarik_ElBashir/status/1179630138461478912?s=20

    TheScore. (2019). Ilya Samsonov. Retrieved from https://www.thescore.com/nhl/players/7675.

  • Capitals Announce 2019-20 Opening Night Roster

    Capitals Announce 2019-20 Opening Night Roster

    Today the Washington Capitals announced their 2019-20 Opening Night roster as they prepare to take on the St. Louis Blues tonight in St. Louis. However, the Capitals made an another announcement before they did unveil their official roster.

     

    The Capitals officially announced that they have placed goaltender Pheonix Copley on waivers. This, as we have stated before, is an obvious choice for the Capitals as they still need to shed salary so they can be under the cap after Evgeny Kuznetsov’s suspension is completed.

     

    After making the Copley announcement the Capitals would unveil their roster.

     

    For a better look at the images please see them in the below slideshow.

    *Images Courtesy of the Washington Capitals

     

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