Seven Up - Rookie Caps goaltender Ilya Samsonov earned his ninth win of the season on Friday with a 24-save effort against the Devils. Samsonov improved to 9-2-1 on the season, winning his fourth straight start.
Samsonov was Washington's first-round (22nd overall) choice in the 2015 NHL Draft, and he was the first goaltender chosen in that draft. New Jersey nabbed Mackenzie Blackwood with the No. 42 overall pick in the second round, and Blackwood was the second goaltender taken in that draft. Friday night marked the first of likely many duels between the two over the years to come, and Samsonov came out on top.
Samsonov won for the seventh time in as many starts on the road, and he becomes just the second goaltender in league history to win as many as seven road starts from the outset of his career. Only former Caps goaltender Brent Johnson had more road wins to start his career; Johnson won each of his first 10 road starts, a run that began on Feb. 26, 1999 and stretched through Jan. 13, 2001.
Johnson also earned a win in relief during that prosperous run, so he started his NHL career by winning each of his first 11 road decisions.
King Of The Road - Ovechkin scored his league-leading 16th road goal of the season, and the 346th road goal of his NHL career, tying him with Hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne for sixth place on the NHL's all-time list in road goals. Ovechkin has led or tied for the league lead in road goals eight times in his career, the most in league history.
His goal on Friday night ended a three-game goal drought, matching his longest of the season. Ovechkin has gone four or more games without a goal only 10 times over the course of his illustrious 15-year NHL career, most recently doing so two years ago at this time when he endured a four-game dry spell from Dec. 19-27, 2017.
Ovechkin also added a new victim to his list, putting a puck behind Blackwood for the first time. The Devils netminder becomes the 139th different goaltender to yield at least one of the Caps' captain's 680 career goals.