Ilya Samsonov Starts in Goal for Washington Capitals in Game 3

Ilya Samsonov received the start in goal for the Washington Capitals on Saturday, The Athletic reports.

Samsonov will make his first start of the series after Vitek Vanecek started the first two games. Samsonov replaced Vanecek for the third period of Game 2 and stopped all 17 shots that he faced. This season, Vanecek had a 20-12-6 record with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. Samsonov had a 23-12-5 record this season with a 3.02 goals-against average and .896 save percentage. They both have split the starting job this season, with the Capitals generally going with the hot hand.

The Capitals were thought to be searching for an upgrade in goal at the NHL trade deadline, but nothing materialized. There is an old saying in the NHL that when you have two goaltenders, you don’t have one. That saying seems to apply to the Capitals.

The Capitals currently trail the Florida Panthers 1-0 in the first period of Game 3 in their playoff series, which is tied at one. The Capitals are -106 (+1.5) on the puck line, and +240 on the money line, with an over/under of 7.5, over (+128), and under (-164) versus the Rangers on Saturday. You can find the bars and props for this game and all others at the FanDuel Sportsbook.