The state of the crease with the Washington Capitals is an interesting development to keep an eye on throughout the season.
There’s no doubt Braden Holby is the unquestioned starting goaltender of the Washington Capitals, at least for this season. Coach Todd Reirden even confirmed it prior to Wednesday’s game. But the biggest burning question facing the Caps and a storyline to watch throughout the year is whether the team will be able to afford Braden Holtby or will the starting job belong to Ilya Samsonov next season.
Since the season opening win against the St. Louis Blues, Holtby struggled having dropped his next three games and giving up three goals on three shots in Monday night’s defeat to the Colorado Avalanche.
That last game was a short leash and Samsonov came into the game right after. Holtby was benched the next day but Reirden said there wasn’t any controversy. Even if there isn’t, it’s not surprising that Caps fans are wondering what the future could look like.
Reirden told Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required):
"“It was a tough game for Braden, and I think he’d be the first one to admit it. That’s a game I think he’d like to do some things different. I (also) think our team could have played closer to our identity than we did to give him a better chance to have success. But, the good thing is he’s accountable to it. He knows. He’s accountable to himself. He’s accountable to his teammates. He’s accountable to everybody that he can be better than that and, when he gets that chance, he will.”"
Granted, it’s way too early in the season for fans to call for anything crazy (yes I’m talking about you guys in the “trade Holby” crowd). His 4.27 goals-against average and .846 save percentages are both career worsts but everyone knows what happened the last time he needed a reset.
How does Samsonov come into the equation? 1. The expectations set on him from the time of his first round draft selection in 2015 and 2. His stellar start to the season.
The hype behind Samsonov was real on Oct. 4, the night of his NHL debut, when he stopped 25-of-26 in front of a raucous crowd in the Island’s coliseum. He followed that up with a win in Dallas, a rarity when it comes to those meetings between the Capitals and Stars. Once again, he allowed only a goal stopping 24-of-25.
Samsonov continued his momentum when he came in relief on Monday against Colorado stopping 19-of-21. Despite the defeat, the Capitals nearly came back.
Samsonov’s biggest test came Wednesday against the high-flying Toronto Maple Leafs. In that contest, he faced 32 shots and stopped 29 of them for a save percentage of .906 to help backstop Washington to their first win on home ice.