{"id":641639,"date":"2026-05-14T00:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641639\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T00:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:42:10","slug":"ilya-samsonov-reminisces-about-viral-playoff-moment-when-alex-ovechkin-yelled-at-him-for-miscue-behind-net-that-led-to-bruins-double-overtime-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/641639\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilya Samsonov reminisces about viral playoff moment when Alex Ovechkin yelled at him for miscue behind net that led to Bruins\u2019 double overtime goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals<\/a> squared off with the Boston Bruins<\/a> in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the Caps came into the series as the higher seed, they were knocked out in just five games, with the turning point coming via a miscue from young goaltender Ilya Samsonov in double overtime of Game 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the play in question, Samsonov and defenseman Justin Schultz fumbled a hand-off behind the net, giving Bruins forward Craig Smith an easy game-winning goal. After the puck crossed the goal line, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin<\/a> could be seen yelling at Samsonov as the team made its way off the ice.<\/p>\n

Ilya Samsonov allows game-winning overtime goal<\/p>\n

Samsonov and fellow Caps teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov recently recounted the viral moment during an interview on KHL team Salavat Yulaev\u2019s VK channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was saying something like, \u2018How many times have I told you not to go behind the net?’\u201d Samsonov said<\/a>, as translated via Google Translate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yeah, he\u2019s saying you\u2019ve gotta stay in the crease,\u201d Kuznetsov added. \u201cLike, the rule is you\u2019re not supposed to leave the blue paint. That\u2019s what we had in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Kuznetsov, fatigue played a part in the error.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou understand, by the third period, your legs basically stop working,\u201d Kuznetsov said. \u201cYou try, because it\u2019s playoffs, right? You try. You get hit, you run somewhere, you\u2019re constantly escaping someone. Something is always happening; you can\u2019t just skate around during the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the second overtime, and by then it was already over 30 minutes of (extra) game time, so it\u2019s a really tough game. And then Ilyukha decided to go play the puck, stop it behind the net. He\u2019s like, \u2018Me! I\u2019m gonna stop the game!’\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, the goal scorer, eventually made his way to Washington as part of a trade-deadline deal in 2023. While with the Capitals, he revealed the clever part of the play that may have caused the miscommunication between Schultz and Samsonov.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that guy later got signed to our team a year later, Smith,\u201d Kuznetsov said. \u201cOr maybe two years later, at the deadline, when Orlov was sent to Boston, and he came to us. He said, \u2018I was yelling, \u2018Leave it, leave it, leave it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Capitals dropped Game 3 and then were outscored 7-2 combined in Game 4 and Game 5, making a quick exit out of the second COVID-19-impacted postseason. Samsonov would last just one more season with the Capitals before the club grew tired of his inconsistency and did not tender him a qualifying offer in 2022.<\/p>\n

Samsonov then played three more seasons in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> and Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> before joining Kuznetsov in the KHL this past year. He made 14 appearances for Sochi HC, posting a 3-8-0 record with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals squared off with the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-641639","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\/641639","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=641639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}