At a time when both the Washington Capitals and their main farm team, the Hershey Bears, were starting to resemble a M*A*S*H unit, some happier news on a Washington Capitals prospect could be reported.
On Saturday, November 19, goalie prospect, Ilya Samsonov was in net for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL, as they played Spartak. Samsonov was playing in place of their regular goaltender, Vasily Koshechkin, who was out with “microtrauma” and did not dress for the game.
Metallurg won the game 5-1 and featured a hat trick by the KHL’s leading goal scorer, Sergei Mozyakin. In this game, Samsonov had 42 saves out of 43 shots. Also, scoring in the game for Metallurg was former Caps’ prospect, Oscar Osala. Ryan Stoa, a former member of the Hershey Bears, scored for Spartak during the third period to break the shutout.
He was also in net for Metallurg Magnitogorsk when Metallurg played Moscow Dynamo at home two days later, on November 21st. This time he saved all 35 shots he faced and earned his first shutout, as Metallurg won 5-0. That included an amazing save against Ansel Galimov.
In these two recent games, Samsonov saved 77 out of 78 shots for a .987 save percentage. He improved his record to 9-0, with one overtime loss, after those two games. His overall save percentage for the season is now .937 and his Goals Against Average is now 1.97. It’s an amazing performance for a young man who is not even 20 years old.
By Diane Doyle
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