{"id":271650,"date":"2025-11-04T21:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/271650\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:09:09","slug":"ilya-samsonov-asked-out-of-his-season-debut-with-hc-sochi-during-the-second-intermission-i-realized-that-if-this-continued-i-might-end-up-in-an-ambulance-and-go-straight-to-the-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/271650\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilya Samsonov asked out of his season debut with HC Sochi during the second intermission: \u2018I realized that if this continued, I might end up in an ambulance and go straight to the hospital\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ilya Samsonov made his season debut for HC Sochi on Sunday after signing a two-year contract with the KHL team the day before<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former Washington Capitals goaltender was sensational in HC Sochi\u2019s 5-2 win over Spartak Moscow<\/a>, surrendering only one goal and stopping 30 of 31 shots \u2014 good for a .968 save percentage.<\/p>\n

The only blemish in Samsonov\u2019s first game in six months and 18 days appears to be due to his conditioning. He did not feel well and asked out during the second intermission as HC Sochi led 3-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to go out on the ice in that atmosphere,\u201d Samsonov said per sports.ru<\/a> and a translation by Google Translate. \u201cI gave it everything I had. I played my best for two periods. During the [second intermission], I realized that if this continued, I might end up in an ambulance and go straight to the hospital. I spoke with the doctor. He said that if I didn\u2019t stop, things could end badly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samsonov yielded the net to Alexei Shchetilin, who stopped 18 of 19 Spartak shots in the third period to give Sochi just their fifth win in 19 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll recover quickly, and everything will be fine,\u201d Samsonov said. \u201cThese things happen. The main thing is that I have two points. The music is playing in the locker room, the mood is great. Everything is as it should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew the team\u2019s situation wasn\u2019t the best. We need to get back into playoff contention, and I really wanted to help the team. Especially since the guys gave me a very warm welcome. Everyone\u2019s motivated and wants to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samsonov\u2019s last NHL game came on April 15 when he backstopped the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-4 shootout loss against the Calgary Flames, stopping 24 of the 28 shots he faced. Like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Samsonov could not secure a new contract in the league this past summer. Once he learned of Sochi\u2019s interest, he asked the team that still held his KHL rights, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, to trade him. He has a clause in his contract<\/a> that would allow him to return to the NHL next year if there\u2019s any interest in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cI consulted with my family and realized there was no point in sitting around doing nothing any longer,\u201d Samsonov told Match TV<\/a>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s it: we reached an agreement with Magnitka, we reached an agreement with Sochi. And my [trade] was completed. I just want to play hockey now and enjoy it. I\u2019m tired of just training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samsonov, rated by many analysts to be one of the better goaltenders available on the market during the offseason, thought he would sign with an NHL club and continue his career in North America.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how it was supposed to be,\u201d Samsonov said. \u201cBut honestly, I don\u2019t know how it happened or why it happened that way. I don\u2019t think my agents missed the market or made any mistakes. It just sort of happened that way, and that\u2019s all there is to it. It\u2019s a challenge for me. That\u2019s why I chose Sochi. We had a good conversation with the management. And at a family meeting, we decided that the most important thing now is to get back to our level, and quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that there will be a lot of shots on my goal is a good thing. And now Sochi has 50 games left in the regular season. I want to help the team turn this situation around. Believe me, I wasn\u2019t looking for the easy way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samsonov said he trained in Miami both on the ice and in the gym while he waited for his next move over the summer. He eventually returned to Russia in the fall, where he skated with Sergei Mozyakin, Evgeny Timkin, and Vasily Koshechkin in Magnitogorsk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey provided me with all the conditions on the ice,\u201d Samsonov said per sports.ru<\/a>. \u201cThese people took charge of me and didn\u2019t abandon me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Samsonov\u2019s second game of the year on Tuesday \u2014 a rematch against Spartak \u2014 he stopped 32 of 33 shots in HC Sochi\u2019s 1-0 overtime loss.<\/a><\/p>\n

Two games into the year, Samsonov has a .969 save percentage and a 1.18 goals against average. He\u2019s stopped 62 of 64 shots he\u2019s faced, earning KHL \u201cMan of the Week\u201d honors<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s nice,\u201d Samsonov said. \u201cIf we keep this up, we\u2019ll be a tough opponent for any team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ilya Samsonov made his season debut for HC Sochi on Sunday after signing a two-year contract with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-271650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}