Capitals: Top 3 questions that remain to be answered in 2020

#2 The state of the crease?

One intriguing storyline entering the season was the state of the crease between Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov. It remains to be an intriguing storyline with Holtby in the midst of a contract year while we’ve seen flashes of brilliance from Samsonov.

Samsonov was hot in December and January making a case for the Calder Trophy. Then he struggled. After he allowed five goals on 20 shots to the New York Islanders on Feb. 10 he was pulled in the 5-3 loss. It snatched the momentum that Sammy gained from those previous two months.

In his four starts prior to the season being paused, Samsonov was 0-3-1 with a 4.66 goals-against average and an .866 save percentage which included that Islanders loss.

Holtby, meanwhile, went 5-3-2 with a 2.75 GAA and a .911 save percentage during that stretch. As the playoffs were set to begin it was clear head coach Todd Reirden was going to go with Holtby in net for the playoffs but a question that remains to be seen is did we see Holtby’s last days in a Capitals sweater?

The Caps were going to play the Detroit Red Wings before the season was paused and Reirden was going to go with Holtby in net. It’s likely we would’ve seen him get the majority of the starts to see him go out with a bang.