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Injured Caps into Denver - Ilya Samsonov dressing

November 16, 2018, 2:11 PM ET [0 Comments]
Marcus Boutilier
Washington Capitals Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The 8-7-3 Washington Capitals head in to the mile high city and Pepsi Center to face the 9-6-3 Colorado Avalanche who have won two games in a row scoring 10 goals in wins over Boston and Edmonton. The Avs have arguably the best line in the NHL currently and the Caps have will head into the high flying Colorado attack dealing with a sudden span of injuries.



With key players out coach Todd Reirden shuffled the lineup just one game after predominantly playing the roster that won the Cup last year. Lars Eller, who has been playing good hockey of late, moves up to center the 1st line with Ovechkin and Wilson. Defenseman Michal Kempny draws back in after missing the last game due to sickness. One of the better players over last couple of games, Pheonix Copley will start his third game in a row in the net as Holtby remains out.

The Capitals recalled Ilya Samsonov from the Hershey Bears with Holtby not dressing and will serve as backup. The 2015 first round draft pick was the first goalie selected in the draft and has been highly touted and should be ready for pro hockey if he’s called upon spending the last 3 seasons in the KHL where he never posted a save percentage under .925. The 6’2” 205 pound native of Magnitogorsk, Russia was stellar at the 2016 and 2017 World Junior tournament for Team Russia with .a 956 SV% and .930 SV% respectively. This guy has played big games before.



The line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen is absolutely playing at a high level and their quick skating and puck movement could pose problems for a Caps club still struggling with consistency at a time when injuries will play a factor. Between the three forwards they have a combined 31 goals and 44 assists in the Avs first 18 games. MacKinnon and Landeskog have 12 goals each and Rantenan leads the three with a 17.5 shooting %. The Colorado offense drops significantly after this line and the Caps will have to hope for some big games from their bottom six. Last season Rantanen and MacKinnon had 5 points each in the two games vs the Capitals with each side winning a game. Rantonen leads NHL scoring with 29 points and MacKinnon is second with 26.

The struggling Caps penalty kill will be tested as the Avs have a 29% efficiency rate on the power play and went 3 for 3 in their last game.

Former Capital Phillip Grubauer will start for the Avs marking the first time he will play his former team since helping them win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup last year. In 5 starts Gruby is 3-1-1 with 3.56 GAA and .893 SV% so the Avs scoring attack has certainly helped his win loss record.

Game time is 9 PM EST.
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