Adam Bradford
With the early season struggles of top goaltender Adin Hill, Ilya Samsonov will make his second consecutive start Tuesday night.
At his Tuesday afternoon press conference, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed that Ilya Samsonov will start in net tonight vs. the Los Angeles Kings.
Samsonov, the 27 year-old Russian goaltender, is in his first season with the Golden Knights. He signed with Vegas over the summer after playing the last two seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Samsonov entered the season as Vegas’s number two goaltender behind primary starter Adin Hill. However, Hill has struggled to start the season, posting an .851 save percentage and a 3.81 goals against average through his first four games of the season. Hence, Cassidy elected to turn to Samsonov—who started Saturday in Florida—for the second consecutive game.
“It does allow Hilly a little extra time this week to get some practice time in if he needs to sort of reset parts of his game,” Cassidy said. “That’s the advantage of not playing for a while.”
Cassidy did say that Hill would return to action either Friday vs. Ottawa or Saturday vs. San Jose.
“No goalie likes to wait that long . . . he’s going back in.”
Other Pregame Notes
-Cassidy is one win away from his 100th win as head coach of the Golden Knights.
-Defenseman Shea Theodore is four points away from reaching 300 as a Golden Knight.
-Vegas will celebrate Hawaiin Heritage and Culture as part of “9th Island Knight” at T-Mobile Arena.
-LA-Vegas will mark the final game of the NHL’s annual Frozen Frenzy. All 32 teams will be in action Tuesday night, with start times staggered throughout the evening.
Puck drop between the Golden Knights and Kings from T-Mobile Arena is set for 8:00 PM PDT. The game will air on ESPN and can be streamed on ESPN+.
