The defending champion Washington Capitals recalled goaltender Ilya Samsonov from the AHL’s Hershey Bears Thursday morning ahead of their Game 1 matchup versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
Samsonov participated in Thursday’s morning skate and the call-up is to provide early playoff depth in the crease behind starter Braden Holtby and backup Pheonix Copley, according to the team.
The 22-year-old Russian was selected 22nd overall by the Caps in the 2015 NHL Draft. Samsonov went 19-14-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in his first year with the Bears after spending the past three seasons with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL.
The Bears have three more games remaining in their regular season before the Calder Cup Playoffs begin later in the month.
https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/1116357209259216896
The Capitals did the same thing ahead of the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs when they recalled Copley from the Bears to serve as extra support for Holtby and former backup Philipp Grubauer.
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