Washington Capitals: California Dreamin’, Ilya Samsonov Is Unbeatable

The Capitals are good when they’re relying on Vitek Vanecek to carry the load, but with Ilya Samsonov also playing at the top of his game, the Capitals may just be great.

The sky has been gray for Ilya Samsonov; the ultra-talented Russian netminder has yet to live up to his potential and got off to a dreadful 2021-2022 campaign. Signed on a one-year “prove it” deal, Samsonov was not proving his case. As it turned out, the Washington Capitals‘ netminder just needed a trip to California to turn his season around.

Back-to-back shutouts for Samsonov have the fans once again believing in him. Vitek Vanecek is still the team’s number one goaltender. He carried the load a season ago when Samsonov couldn’t and has been a steadying force in-net again this season, posting a 4-2-4 record, with a .911 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.39 in almost twice as many games (11) as Samsonov (6) has played in. But, having both goalies playing well, is exactly what the Capitals wanted going into this year and it seems they finally have that. The two young netminders were always supposed to be a 1A/1B tandem, pushing each other to succeed and splitting the load. After all, neither one has played in more than 37 NHL games in a single season.

Before heading out west, despite being 4-0-1 in 6 games played, Samsonov was struggling. Sporting a save percentage of only .894, he appeared to be uncomfortable in-net. Samsonov was all over the place in the crease, relying purely on his athleticism to make saves. It just wasn’t working

However, after soaking up the sun out west, Ilya Samsonov looks like the goalie that the Capitals need him to be to be a true Stanley Cup contender. Shutting out both the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks, he is now 6-0-1 with an impressive .924 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.11. Peter Laviolette, his head coach, was impressed after the Russian netminder pitched another shutout against the Sharks.

"“He seems focused and dialed in. He seems like he is in control,” Laviolette said. I think everybody had the same feeling this game as they had last game, that he was just in position. He was there. He looked sharp. He looked focused.”"

Most telling was Laviolette talking about Samsonov being in-position. If he’s in-position, he’s a hard goaltender to beat.

Alex Ovechkin is every Capitals fan when he spoke about Samsonov’s performance against the Sharks.

"“I hope he’s going to play like that the rest of the year,” Ovechkin put simply after the 4-0 victory on Sunday night against the Sharks."

The sample size is still incredibly small, but here’s to hoping that Samsonov builds on this trip. The Capitals are good when they’re relying on Vitek Vanecek to carry the load, but with Ilya Samsonov also playing at the top of his game, the Capitals may just be great. Time will tell.