Goaltender Ilya Samsonov played brilliant, clutch, playoff hockey in Game 3 of the Washington Capitals’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins until he didn’t.
A miscommunication between Samsonov and defenseman Justin Schultz at five minutes and 48 seconds into the second overtime period gave Boston’s Craig Smith the puck and an empty net easy goal as the Bruins won 3-2. The goal allowed the Bruins to take a 2-1 lead in this best of seven series.
It was a crushing loss in a series that has gone into overtime in each of the first three games. But, if there was a bright spot for the Caps, it was that, despite the loss, Washington might have found its number one goaltender going forward.
“He was huge tonight for us. I wouldn’t say anything other than keep your head up,” defenseman John Carlson said of Samsonov after the game. “There’s a lot more hockey to be played. He did a great job for us tonight. If he didn’t stand on his head, we probably wouldn’t get to that point.”
Wednesday night’s game was Samsonov’s first in almost three weeks. He and Evgeny Kuznetsov, also back in the lineup, were scratched in a late-season game after missing a team function. Both then landed on the league’s covid protocol list for the second time this season. Last year, Samsonov missed the playoffs after injuring himself in an AVT accident during the league-wide shutdown.
Still, head coach Peter Laviolette said the decision to have Samsonov make his postseason debut was easy. Game two starter Craig Anderson was given what was described as a maintenance day. Pheonix Copley served as the backup.
“He’s been our goaltender all year. Him and Vitek were the guys who got us here,” Laviolette said after the game. “I think with that and the maintenance we gave Craig Anderson today, that was the choice we went with.”
Washington took a 1-0 lead at the 8:21 mark of the second period when Alex Ovechkin scored on a Caps power play for his first postseason goal.
The Bruins tied the game less than a minute later on a goal from Taylor Hall. But, once again, the Caps reclaimed the lead. Nic Dowd made the score 2-1 early in the third period beating Tukka Rask off a feed from Garnet Hathaway. The Bruins Brad Marchand then tied the score 2-2 midway through the third on a Boston power play.
Game four is Friday night in Boston, and despite the ending, Caps players are still confident the series will go back to Washington tied at 2-2.
“Obviously, it was a battle,” said forward Tom Wilson. “It’s never easy to lose one in overtime when you’re out there battling, but we’ll review it, turn the page. The next one is huge.”
“I think that’s something we talked about before the playoffs started, composure and will are the biggest things after wins and losses,” Carlson said. “We’ve gotta be hungrier, and that’s our best effort next game.”