Samsonov sharp, gives Caps edge on Panthers
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' Trophywinning 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.
AVALANCHE 7, PREDATORS 3 >> Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and top-seeded Colorado took a commanding 3-0 lead with a road win in its firstround Western Conference series. Landeskog also had two assists. Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews each added a goal and an assist,
and Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal apiece as Colorado went 4 for 5 on the man advantage to push Nashville to the brink of elimination. Cale Makar had three assists. Valeri Nichushkin added an emptynet goal with 2:46 left. Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper hurt an eye after being struck in the face by a stick late in the first period. Coach Jared Bednar said after the victory that Kuemper was well and doing better even though the goalie didn't return. Kuemper will be further evaluated and has some swelling. “He got evaluated right away and by the time we went back out, we had information it wasn't going to be too serious,” Bednar said. Pavel Francouz replaced him and made 20 saves in his seventh playoff appearance of his career. PENGUINS 7, RANGERS 4>> Danton Heinen's first playoff goal in three years just past the midway point of the third period broke a tie and lifted host Pittsburgh, which took a 2-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference series. Pittsburgh blew a three-goal first-period lead but recovered behind the play of thirdstring goaltender Louis Domingue and Heinen, who jumped on a loose puck near the New York goal line and flicked a shot by Alexandar Georgiev 11:02 into the third to put the Penguins in front to stay.