Another injury occurs at Capitals practice

The Washington Capitals had an injury scare at practice yesterday with Carl Hagelin and Wednesday morning was no different. This time it was Ilya Samsonov who left practice early. Hagelin, along with Joe Snively (upper body injury), did not practice today.

Samsonov left practice in the early going as he was struck with a high shot. He skated to the bench on his own power but felt more pain as soon as he got there. The Caps usually practice on the Arlington rink in the first part of practice before switching to the Capitals rink. He skated over to the other rink before heading down the tunnel to the locker room.

Samsonov allowed three goals on 10 shots while making seven saves in their loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. He was pulled after the first period as Vitek Vanecek came on in relief one day after a rehab start with the Hershey Bears. Vanecek took a maintenance day yesterday.

Samsonov is 17-9-3 this season in 32 games played with a 2.93 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. While he has a career high in wins, Samsonov has a career low in save percentage and a career high goals against average.

The Caps have had goaltending questions all season long. The trade deadline is looming and some fans are clamoring for a veteran netminder. But has health played a factor in their down play? That’s the one question I have.

Samsonov is set for free agency as is Vanecek and soon general manager Brian MacLellan will have to make a tough decision. One that could determine the fate of a team that has a championship window quickly closing, perhaps sooner than most Caps fans would like.

Replacing Samsonov for the remainder of practice was video coach Brett Leonhardt, who actually has some goaltending experience.