Washington Capitals: Top 3 observations from the preseason

#2 We still don’t know who gets the start in goal for opening night

The preseason was an opportunity for Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek to prove themselves as to who will get the start in goal for opening night. It is likely they’ll rotate between the two unless one significantly outperforms the other this season.

Let’s break down how each one did game by game. Vanecek got the first preseason game against the Boston Bruins for the third period and made stops on all nine shots he faced. Samsonov got the third period in the second preseason game against the New Jersey Devils making stops on six of eight shots.

Samsonov got the start in the Caps third preseason game agains the Philadelphia Flyers where he stopped 28 of 31 shots. Vanecek got the next game where he stopped 22 of 25 shots against the Devils.

Vanecek would get the start at the Bruins where he would turn away 33 of 36 shots in the Caps first win. Samsonov got the finale where he stopped 22 of 25 shots in a win.

After Tuesday’s optional practice, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told the media that he made his decision on who would get the start in goal for opening night but that he wanted to speak to the net minders first. He will reveal the starter in the morning. Typically the first goalie that leaves the ice from morning skate is the starter.