ARLINGTON — The Washington Capitals will start rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov on Sunday when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time this season, coach Todd Reirden announced.
Samsonov has outplayed Braden Holtby for several weeks. He’s won his last 11 decisions and compiling a league-leading 2.12 goals against average. That’s earned Samsonov more opportunities to play, in Reirden’s eyes.
“We looked at some different things,” Reirden said Saturday. “I liked a lot of parts of his game yesterday (a win over Ottawa). I think it’s, again, another challenge for him, first game against Pittsburgh this year, and we’ll see how he does.