On Sunday Capitals’ goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov made his Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) season debut for Metallurg Magnitogorsk against Lada Togliatti.
The game did not start well for Samsonov and Metallurg, as Lada scored the first two goals in the contest before Ilya Grigorenko could halve the deficit for Metallurg. The score after the first period was 2-1 in favor of Lada.
During second period, Metallurg took the lead with two unanswered goals, including one from their team superstar, Sergei Mozyakin. However, Lada tied the score early in third period and took the lead soon after.
Metallurg tied the game again with a goal by Vladislav Kaletnik. Sergei Mozyakin scored the game winner with just under four minutes left in the contest, with his second goal of the game. The final score was 5-4.
In this game, Samsonov made 22 saves in 26 attempts for a .846 save percentage. During first period, he faced 10 shots and saved 8. During second period, he saved all 11 shots. During third period, he faced 5 shots and saved 3.
Samsonov did have a better save percentage than the opposing goalie, who had saved 19 shots out of 24 for a .792 save percentage. Metallurg Magnitogorsk is now 2-1 for the season.
Samsonov is in the final year of his current KHL contract. If all goes well, he should be in Hershey by next summer.
By Diane Doyle
Hope to see Samsonov have a good KHL season
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