Washington Capitals Could Be Forced To Start Craig Anderson For Game 2
Craig Anderson wasn’t expecting to get into the Washington Capitals’ Game 1 matchup with the Boston Bruins Saturday, but he did and the 39-year-old netminder proceeded to pick up the victory, leading Washington to a 3-2 overtime victory. By doing that, Anderson became the oldest goaltender in team history to win a playoff game, making 21 out of 22 saves. Anderson is likely to get the start for Game 2 against the Bruins on Monday according to the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell.
Anderson, who turns 40 on Friday, had to take over in the first period for starter Vitek Vanecek, who suffered a lower-body injury. He was already filling in for Ilya Samsonov, who was on the COVID-19 protocol list and wasn’t available to play either. Enter Anderson, who was forced to take over with No. 4 netminder Pheonix Copley standing in as the replacement goalie.
Vanecek is listed as day-to-day, according to head coach Peter Laviolette, but he could not confirm whether it will be a short day-to-day or a longer stint. Samsonov came off the COVID-19 protocol list Saturday, but there is no word on whether he might be available for Game 2. He skated Sunday for the first time in two weeks.
Regardless, the team could be putting quite a bit of pressure on Anderson, who spent most of the season on the taxi squad. He only appeared in four regular season games, posting a 2-1 record, with a 2.13 and a .915 save percentage.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 05/15/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. While the league is waiting on a report from the Florida Panthers, here is today’s list for all remaining active teams:
Florida – TBA
St. Louis – Jake Walman, Nathan Walker, David Perron*
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals
While Washington will be happy to see that Samsonov was one-and-done on his second stint on the CPRA list, the goaltender was still absent from morning skate earlier and he is not expected to play in Game One against the Boston Bruins tonight. Nevertheless, having Samsonov available for the remainder of the series is certainly a plus for Capitals. Their young goaltending tandem is the team’s biggest question mark heading into the postseason, but having both healthy improves the situation. Whether the Capitals will get Kuznetsov back during their first-round series remains uncertain.
In St. Louis, this is certainly not the news that the team hoped for on the eve of their postseason run. While the Blues would have liked to have Walman and Walker available as depth options if need be, their losses are not much of a factor to the team’s success. Perron’s addition to the COVID Protocol is another matter entirely. The veteran led the Blues in scoring this season with 58 points in 56 games and is a difference-maker on the ice and in the locker room. If he misses any time, it makes the daunting task of upsetting the Colorado Avalanche that much harder. The team and the league alike hate to see a player of his caliber sidelined at this time of the year.
Brendan Leipsic Re-Signs In KHL
Former NHL forward Brendan Leipsic will be staying in the KHL moving forward, after signing a two-year contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Leipsic’s rights were actually traded from CSKA Moscow where he played this season for the rights to Los Angeles Kings forward Lias Andersson, who happens to be a restricted free agent this summer. CSKA will likely try to convince Andersson to leave the NHL and head to Russia in the offseason when his contract in Los Angeles expires.
Leipsic meanwhile is staying after scoring 32 points in 58 games this season, his first overseas. The 26-year-old forward saw his last NHL contract terminated by the Washington Capitals in May 2020 after several screenshots were leaked from his social media account. At the time, the NHL issued a statement condemning “misogynistic and reprehensible remarks” that Leipsic and Jack Rodewald made in a private group chat. Both players ended up taking contracts overseas, with Rodewald signing in the Czech Extraliga for 2020-21.
Originally selected in the third round by the Nashville Predators, Leipsic’s NHL career isn’t necessarily over, but it would certainly be a difficult public relations move for any team to sign him at this point. The fact that he had just 11 points in 61 games during the 2019-20 season with the Capitals would suggest he’s not valuable enough to take the risk, meaning he might be limited to KHL contracts from here on out.
Snapshots: Kempny, Dach, Danforth
The Washington Capitals have sent Michal Kempny to the AHL Hershey Bears on a long-term injury conditioning stint, suggesting that the defenseman is closing in on a return. In October, Kempny underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon suffered in offseason training and was given a six to eight-month recovery timeline. He has been skating with the Capitals for the last little while, but it was still unclear if he would actually play this season.
A conditioning stint would indicate that the 30-year-old Kempny may actually be able to play for Washington, at least once the playoffs start. The team does not have the cap space to activate him from LTIR right now, but that issue would go away in the postseason when the salary cap ceiling is lifted. Where he fits into the lineup at this point isn’t clear, especially coming off such a long injury, but adding depth at the position for the playoffs is never a bad thing.
- Speaking of coming off a long injury, Chicago Blackhawks’ Kirby Dach won’t play again this season after reaggravating the problem in his wrist. Dach “continues to have some post-operative discomfort” according to team physician Dr. Michael Terry and he will be held out the final three games of the year. The 20-year old forward didn’t make his season debut until March 27, but that was much earlier than his initial timeline suggested. The team didn’t hold him back, letting Dach play more than 20 minutes in each of his first two games of the year. While there’s no guarantee this situation could have been avoided, it is a frustrating end to a disappointing season for the young forward. After scoring 23 points in 64 games as a rookie, Dach will finish this year with two goals and 10 points in 18 games.
- Interested in seeing what all the fuss is about with new Columbus Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth? Tune into the IIHF World Championship later this month, where Danforth is expected to represent Canada according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. The undrafted 28-year-old signed his first NHL deal just a few days ago after three dominant seasons overseas. Danforth recorded 23 goals and 55 games in the KHL and will get to test his skills alongside some other NHL players at the tournament.
Capitals May Be Willing To Move Evgeny Kuznetsov
It has been a tough season for Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov. He missed time earlier this season due to COVID-19 (and is back on the CPRA list today) while being benched for last night’s contest as well for team disciplinary purposes. On top of that, he has underwhelmed offensively with 29 points in 41 games. Accordingly, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic noted in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link) that Washington may be willing to listen to offers on the 28-year-old this summer. While a season like this doesn’t help his value, it’s once again a quiet UFA market in terms of impact centers so there would certainly be plenty of interest in Kuznetsov’s services, even though he carries a $7.8MM AAV through 2024-25 and a 15-team no-trade clause at a time where cap space will be limited for many teams.
Tom Wilson Receives Fine For Roughing
The Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA, to Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for roughing New York Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich last night. The incident of course included much more than just the interaction between Wilson and Buchnevich. The Capitals forward earned two minor roughing penalties and a ten-minute misconduct during the game, but unless there is more supplementary discipline to come, appears to have avoided suspension.
The part of the interaction that caused most of the outrage, slamming Artemi Panarin into the ice, was not addressed by the league at all. Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that the DoPS saw everything after the punch on Buchnevich as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”
Of course, Wilson’s actions are usually scrutinized more than the average player, and for good reason. He has been suspended several times in his career, including earlier this season when he received seven games for his hit on Brandon Carlo. In the explanation of that event, the league deemed it as:
…a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position, and doing so with significant force.
The two teams will play again tomorrow night.
Ilya Samsonov, Evgeny Kuznetsov Benched For Disciplinary Reasons
It isn’t unheard of for NHL teams to bench players due to internal disciplinary reasons and this isn’t even the first publicized case of the season, but when the Washington Capitals took the ice on Monday night without two of their biggest names, people took notice. The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell was the first to report that starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov and top-six forward Evgeny Kuznetsov would not be in the lineup against the New York Rangers due to a disciplinary decision made by the coaching staff. As it turns out, the pair were late to a team function – a mistake of minutes that cost them an entire game.
This isn’t the first time that Samsonov and Kuznetsov have been at the center of an issue in Washington this season either. The duo were among the group that broke COVID protocol earlier this season, costing the team a $100K fine. It could be that this earlier incidence of rule-breaking came into play with the roster decision tonight, with the team choosing not to go easy on the pair.
The decision to bench Samsonov and Kuznetsov was surely not an easy one as well. While the Capitals have clinched a playoff berth already, the team has lost ground in the East Division standings of late. Washington has slipped behind the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points for the division lead, albeit with a game in hand, but perhaps more concerning are the Boston Bruins just three points behind with a game on the Caps. Washington is also facing the most competitive of the North’s non-playoff teams in the Rangers. Without Samsonov, who has only allowed two goals per game in his last five starts, and Kuznetsov’s .71 points per game, the Capitals were risking missing out on precious points on Monday night in order to reach the two key players a lesson in accountability.
Lower-Body Injury For John Carlson But Justin Schultz Returns From His Lower-Body Injury
- Capitals defenseman John Carlson was a late scratch for tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He’s listed as day-to-day. Carlson is currently tied for second on Washington in scoring with 10 goals and 32 assists in 49 games. The Caps did get some good news on the back end though as Justin Schultz returned after missing three straight with a lower-body injury of his own.
East Notes: Ovechkin, Penguins, Hart, Lafreniere
The Washington Capitals were without star forward Alex Ovechkin, who missed his first game Saturday (due to injury) since May 5, 2015 due to a lower-body injury. His ability to stay healthy throughout his career is one reason why many people believe that the 35-year-old has a chance to break the goals scored record (held by Wayne Gretzky). However, the forward will be a game-time decision on Tuesday against the Islanders as well, according to NHL.com.
“I think with some injuries, you don’t know what’s going to go on, whether somebody’s going to be available or not available and that’s why I think people say ‘day to day’, because they’re unsure,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday. “Will he be there for the next game? I’m not sure at this point, so we’ll err on the side of caution at this point in the season. We’re not going to risk anything as we head towards the playoffs, but hopefully he continues to improve.”
Ovechkin left late in the third period of Thursday’s game with the Islanders due to the injury. He has 24 goals in 43 games this season and sits sixth on the NHL all-time goals leaders with 730, just one short of tying Marcel Dionne.
- Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said (via the Penguins) that injured players Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Tanev and Frederick Gaudreau all skated Sunday morning with the taxi squad. While the coach admitted they all are making progress, he said their status with the team has not changed. Malkin has been out with a lower body injury since March 16. Tanev has appeared in just two games since March 18 with an upper-body injury, while Gaudreau has been out since April 11 with a lower-body injury.
- With just nine games remaining in the Philadelphia Flyers season, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ed Barkowitz writes that one of the key things to watch is the return and the play of young goaltender Carter Hart. However, head coach Alain Vigneault has not indicated when Hart will return from the mild knee sprain he suffered on April 15, suggesting it might be a bit longer before he returns to the ice. The team is 1-2-1 without him since the injury.
- The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello (subscription required) writes that New York Rangers rookie Alexis Lafreniere looked impressive Friday when he was promoted to the top line next to Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich when Chris Kreider sat out, scoring a goal and an assist in the process. The scribe writes that the team might benefit during the final stretch of games remaining this season to see what Lafreniere can do on the top line.
Capitals Sign AHL Coaching Staff To Contract Extensions
- The Capitals will be keeping their AHL coaching staff around for the foreseeable future as the team announced recently that head coach Spencer Carbery, assistant coach Patrick Wellar, and associate goalie coach Alex Westlund have all signed multi-year contract extensions. Carbery is in his third season at the helm with Hershey with the Bears posting a .702 points percentage over that span. Hershey has a 16-5-2 record this season to lead the seven-team North Division in points with 34.