Fans’ cheers brought Ilya Samsonov close to tears on the way to his first NHL playoff victory.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fans’ cheers brought Ilya Samsonov close to tears on the way to his first NHL playoff victory. Chants of “Sammy! Sammy!” followed one of many important saves he made in Washington’s 6-1 rout of Florida in Game 3 on Saturday. Samsonov rebounded after allowing an early goal and the Capitals bounced back from a blowout loss in Game 2 to take a lead in the series against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers. Samsonov made 29 saves in his first start this postseason, taking over for Vitek Vanecek and giving teammates and coach Peter Laviolette exactly what they hoped for out of a goaltender whose play ranges from stellar to suspect. From big saves in tight on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov to the stop on Sam Reinhart that ignited the chants, this was the best of Samsonov at the most opportune time. “I am ready all the time,” he said. “Sometimes you start playoffs, sometimes another goalie, but you need to get ready for every game. I understand if you want to win, you need to win 16 games.” The Capitals would take two more this round to start. Game 4 is Monday in Washington. Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play and assisted on T.J. Oshie’s power-play goal. Marcus Johansson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Garnet Hathaway also scored and John Carlson contributed an empty-netter for the Capitals, who shook off a 5-1 loss in Game 2 and an early deficit in Game 3 behind the play of their new starting goaltender and a stingy effort that stymied the NHL’s best regular-season offense. “We all know playoffs have their swings and momentums,” said Oshie, who redirected Ovechkin’s shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his goal. “A team wins one game, the other team is going to make some adjustments and come at you twice as hard the next game.
