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Washington Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Avalanche

By Michael Marzzacco |
Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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Garnet Hathaway, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Garnet Hathaway, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

The Washington Capitals are back in action tonight against the Colorado Avalanche. Here’s how to watch the game since many of you might have questions on how to watch it with the game being on Hulu and ESPN plus.

The Caps will look to bounce back from an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning from Saturday night. There are a ton of storylines heading into this game. Former Capital Andre Burakovsky is back in his old arena for the second time. Nathan MacKinnon also is cleared to play after testing negative for COVID-19.

Here are the top 3 players to watch tonight.

Garnet Hathaway, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
Garnet Hathaway, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports /

#3 Garnet Hathaway

Garnet Hathaway is playing in his 300th career game tonight. It will be his 125th game as a member of the Capitals after he previously played in 175 games for the Calgary Flames. Over the last four seasons, Hathaway ranks ninth among forwards in hits with 571 and tied for 68th in blocked shots with 112, all of this despite ranking 264th in ice time (2,224:50).

Hathaway has averaged 2.17 drawn penalties per 60 minutes of five on five play over the last five seasons. That ranks first in the NHL among players with at least 200 games played during that stretch.

Congrats to Hathaway on career game number 300!

Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

#2 Ilya Samsonov

Two games in, Vitek Vanecek has proven himself. If Ilya Samsonov wants to, he has to earn the trust of the coaching staff and team. Tonight Samsonov gets his first chance and he faces a big test with a high flying offensive Colorado attack.

I don’t think I need to get into what happened off the ice but here’s a quick little recap: ATV accident during quarantine, showing up late to a team function, winding up on the COVID-19 protocols list twice. There’s a little more to it like hanging out in a hotel room with the other Russians but that was all of their faults for doing that, not just Samsonov’s.

Okay now that that’s over with, let’s get into what happened on the ice the last two years. Samsonov had a good rookie season backing up Braden Holtby in 2019-20. In that season, Samsonov went 16-6-2 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. Last season he split duties with Vanecek, going 13-4-1 with a 2.69 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

Goaltending has been a topic of discussion among Capitals fans ever since they traded back for Vanecek with the Seattle Kraken as well as only extended Samsonov to just one more season. The message was clear, it’s now or never for Samsonov.

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

#1 Alex Ovechkin

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is playing in his 1,200th game tonight. He is the first player in franchise history, one of five active players (Joe Thornton, Zdeno Chara, Dustin Brown, and Ryan Suter), and one of four Russian born players in NHL history (Alex Kovalev, Sergei Gonchar, Sergei Fedorov) to reach this milestone.

Since his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2005 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ovechkin will have played in 1,200 of a possible 1,242 games which equals 96.6 percent. Only six other players that have played with one team in NHL history have played in at least 96 percent of their team’s games at their respective 1,200 career game mark, and no other active player has accomplished this feat. Goes to show you Ovechkin’s durability.

He was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week in the opening week of the season, the 28th time in his career he was selected as one of the weeks top three stars. He leads the Capitals with three goals and five points through the first two games of the season.

Ovechkin has scored a goal in five of his last 10 games against Colorado with five goals and five assists. He’ll once again be looking for the stat sheet tonight.

Hot. Avalanche vs. Washington Capitals: Date, Time, Betting Odds, Streaming, More. light

Once again here’s your friendly neighborhood SpiderMan reminder that tonight’s game can be streamed only on ESPN plus or Hulu. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

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