Samsonov was among four Capitals added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday after it was determined they were in a hotel room together during the team's recent road trip. "Right now the players are in quarantine and, at this point, I believe it's four games and then under review and so we'll go from there," head coach Peter Laviolette said. With Samsonov out, Vitek Vanecek is expected to take over as the Capitals' No.1 and Craig Anderson was promoted to be the backup.
After sitting as Marc-Andre Fleury’s backup on Saturday, the Golden Knights will go back to Lehner tonight vs. the Coyotes. Lehner stopped 20 of 22 shots in a winning effort vs. Anaheim in the season opener. On Monday he takes on a Coyotes team that has started the season at 1-0-1 while scoring eight goals in their first two games.
Following a late-season trade to the Golden Knights, Lehner went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .940 SV%. He didn't miss a beat in the NHL's return to play, taking over as Vegas' No.1 and going 9-7 with a 1.99 GAA and .917 SV%. Entering 2021 he's clearly the lead dog in Vegas but it remains to be seen just how large of a start share he's going to command.
With Braden Holtby leaving Washington to sign with Vancouver and Henrik Lundqvist forcing to miss the season due to heart complications, Samsonov should be a workhorse for the Capitals this season. In his rookie campaign, he was 16-6-2 with a 2.55 GAA and .913 SV%. Of his 26 games, 14 came on the road, where he was 10-2-1 with a 2.55 GAA and .911 SV%.
Olofsson was shaken up after losing his balance and crashing into the post at Saturday's practice. Olofsson tried to return to the skate following a video session but ended up retiring to the dressing room shortly after. Following the practice the Sabres said that Olofsson is still being evaluated, so consider him day-to-day until more information is released.
Eichel suffered an upper-body injury while training and was held off of the ice for the first day of training camp. The Sabres consider Eichel as day-to-day, so it doesn't sound like he will miss any games. In practice, Casey Mittelstadt skated on the top line as a placeholder for Eichel, cantering a line with Taylor Hall and Victor Olofsson on his wings.
As of now, Hill is the Coyotes No.3 netminder but there's a chance that Antti Raanta is moved in the offseason. In 2020, Hill was 2-4-3 with a 2.62 GAA and .918 SV% in the NHL and 15-5-0 with a 2.40 GAA and .918 SV% at the AHL-level.