The Washington Post - 05.10.2019

S A T U R D A Y, O C T O B E R  5 ,  2 0 1 9 .  T H E  W A S H I N G T O N  P O S T EZ SU D7

tallied in his first NHL game and

Sami Vatanen added a goal for the

Devils, while defenseman P.K.

Subban had two assists.

Blues’ Schenn signs extension

St. Louis signed Brayden

Schenn to an eight-year contract

extension worth $52 million,

locking up one of its top centers

after its run to the Stanley Cup

championship last season.

Schenn, 28, was acquired in a

trade with Philadelphia in 2017

and put up a career-high 28 goals

the following season and

70 points overall as he was

named an all-star. Last season,

Schenn had 54 points in the regu-

lar season and 12 more in the

playoff run.

(1940-45) and Yvon Cournoyer of

the Montreal Canadiens (1973-78)

also scored in six straight.

l JETS 5, DEVILS 4: Kyle Con-

nor and Blake Wheeler scored

shootout goals and Winnipeg

spoiled the debut of No. 1 overall

pick Jack Hughes by rallying from

a 4-0 deficit to beat New Jersey in

Newark.

Dmitry Kulikov, Jack Roslovic,

Mathieu Perreault and Neal Pionk

scored for the Jets. Laurent Bros-

soit was outstanding in making

35 saves. He made three stops in

the shootout, including one on a

shot by Hughes.

Blake Coleman had two goals

for New Jersey, including a spec-

tacular one-handed shot while

falling down. Nilita Gusev also

The NHL returns to Europe

next month when the Tampa Bay

Lightning faces the Sabres in the

Swedish capital of Stockholm.

l MAPLE LEAFS 4, BLUE

JACKETS 1: Mitch Marner

scored twice and added an assist

and Frederik Andersen made

28 saves as Toronto beat host

Columbus.

Auston Matthews had a goal

and a pair of assists, and Cody

Ceci — who came from Ottawa in

an offseason trade — got his first

goal as a Maple Leaf to help spoil

Columbus’s home opener.

Cam Atkinson scored for the

Blue Jackets in a sixth straight

season opener, the longest active

streak in the NHL. Mud Brune-

teau of the Detroit Red Wings

flexible depending on how Sam-

sonov performs.

“He’s going to get some games,

but the goal is to continue to devel-

op and learn and grow,” goaltend-

ing coach Scott Murray said. “Ob-

viously, it’s a different league, but

he’s gotten better his whole career.

That’s the goal, and it’s not stop-

ping now. And he’s got to continue

to earn his ice time, just as he’s

done.”

Across the ice from Samsonov

was Semyon Varlamov, the last

goaltender the Capitals drafted in

the first round and someone Sam-

sonov has long looked up to. Sam-

sonov said the two had dinner

together once in Russia and ex-

changed a few texts and phone

calls in the past, with Varlamov

offering advice on how to get used

to life in North America and in the

NHL. Samsonov is now experienc-

ing it all for himself, including

getting the better of his idol Friday

night.

“I thought he played great,”

Reirden said. “He looked very

comfortable in there. I’m not sur-

prised. That’s how he’s looked this

year in particular since he’s re-

turned. Just the composure that

he has, the confidence that he

gives the bench, he definitely

looks the part. He was the part for

sure tonight.”

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to Hershey and back occasionally

to keep him playing regularly, but

that doesn’t appear to be their

plan at this point. Reirden said the

team has a projected goaltending

schedule for the season, but it’s

sonov’s next start. Holtby, a Vezina

Trophy winner in 2016, has played

at least 54 regular season games in

each of the past five seasons.

Samsonov is waivers-exempt,

so the Capitals could shuttle him

Washington wanted to save Holt-

by for its home opener Saturday,

and after this set of back-to-back

games, the Capitals won’t have

another until Oct. 24 and 25, po-

tentially a 20-day wait until Sam-

to spelling Holtby, either when the

Capitals have two games in two

nights or in relief if Holtby’s hurt

or struggling.

Samsonov was tabbed the start-

er for Friday night’s game because

The Blackhawks are hoping to

return to the playoffs after a two-

year absence, but defensemen

Dennis Gilbert and Slater Koek-

koek each made a costly mistake

after the blue liners struggled last

year.

“We turned way too many

pucks over. That’s where we ex-

posed ourselves defensively,”

Coach Jeremy Colliton said.

Vigneault became the

21st coach in Flyers history in

April after they missed the play-

offs for the fourth time in seven

seasons.

He was behind the bench as

Philadelphia held off Chicago in

the 26th NHL regular season

game played in Europe and the

fifth in Prague.

stopped 28 shots.

It was the first regular season

game outside of North America in

Philadelphia’s 52-year history.

“I think tonight’s game, every-

body was down there, everybody

was consistent in what we were

doing, and it was a team win,”

Philadelphia captain Claude Gir-

oux said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Patrick Kane had a goal and

two assists for Chicago, which

opened the 2009-10 season in Fin-

land. Alex Nylander and Alex De-

Brincat also scored.

“I like the way we fought back,”

said Kane, who had a career-high

110 points last season. “Whatever

the numbers were tonight, I still

think I have more to give to the

team.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

It was a successful home debut
for Flyers Coach Alain Vigneault —
a long, long way from Philadelphia.
Travis Konecny had two goals
and Vigneault won his first game
with his new team, directing the
Flyers to a season-opening 4-3
victory over the Chicago Black-
hawks on Friday night in Prague.
Oskar Lindblom and Michael
Raffl also scored for the Flyers in
front of a sellout crowd of 17,463 at
Prague’s O2 Arena as part of the
NHL’s Global Series. Carter Hart

Samsonov donned a Washington
Nationals batting helmet — team-
mates award it to one player after
every win — and as is tradition for
Capitals rookies who have some-
thing to celebrate, he got a towel of
shaving cream smeared into his
face by Capitals forward Tom Wil-
son.
Samsonov’s night began with a
different ritual, skating onto the
Nassau Coliseum ice all alone for
warmups, a tradition for players
making their big league debut.
Rather than take a solo lap, he
skated right over to a spot in front
of Washington’s bench and started
stretching, flashing that poised,
cool presence Coach Todd Reirden
has praised so often.
But after forward Jakub Vrana
lifted the Capitals to a 1-0 lead
with his second goal in as many
games, the first goal-against of
Samsonov’s career was the epito-
me of a bad bounce. A pass from
New York’s Devon Toews deflected
off two Washington players before
caroming off defenseman Radko
Gudas’s skate and past Samsonov
12:27 into the game. T.J. Oshie
restored the Capitals’ lead with a
power-play goal in the second pe-
riod, and it held up with eight
saves by Samsonov in the third
frame.
With Holtby, 30, due to become
an unrestricted free agent after
this season, Washington felt ur-
gency to see Samsonov in NHL
games and determine whether he
really is the team’s goaltender of
the future. He has played just one
year of North American profes-
sional hockey, but Samsonov’s hot
finish to his first season in the
AHL — from Jan. 12 on, he posted a
15-3-1-1 record with a 1.78 goals
against average and .948 save per-
centage — is what convinced
Washington he was ready for this
promotion. The trade-off is that
his playing time is largely limited

CAPITALS FROM D 1

gen’s interview process in 2000

for the head coaching job at

Maryland, which Locksley was

part of as a holdover from the

previous staff, a player asked

Friedgen how he would help the

team win. Friedgen said he would

teach Maryland’s players how not

to lose, meaning they would learn

to avoid self-inflicted struggles.

“That’s one of the big things

that Coach Locks harps on,” line-

backer Shaq Smith said. “We

want to be the least-penalized

team in the game. Majority of the

penalties that we had in [the

Temple game] were penalties that

we can control — offsides and

unsportsmanlike [conduct],

things like that.”

The Maryland players have no-

ticed a change this season that

they believe should translate to

the field. At practice, “you don’t

see anybody’s T-shirt hanging

out,” wide receiver Brian Cobbs

said, describing the uniform

practice attire known as “plain

Jane.”

For the first two weeks of the

season, it worked. So these play-

ers know it’s possible to play this

way. Now it’s a matter of rediscov-

ering the discipline that has been

missing.

With Ellis’s mistakes against

Temple, Locksley saw the defen-

sive back in the right position but

said he needs to relax and not

panic. When Maryland could

have seized some life early

against Penn State, quarterback

Josh Jackson had an open receiv-

er but missed the connection and

threw an interception instead.

To Locksley, the issues are evi-

dent but so are the opportunities

for simple fixes.

“Those are things that are all

teachable,” he said. “Those are all

correctable.”

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moving the ball. We beat our-

selves, and that’s something we’re

going to have to figure out as a

team: How do we get more disci-

plined? How do we not beat

ourselves early in games to give

ourselves a shot?”

The game against Penn State,

regardless of the outcome, could

have offered signs that the Tem-

ple miscues wouldn’t persist. In-

stead, it became obvious that the

Terrapins need to correct the

issues before they become a trou-

bling trend. At Rutgers, a strug-

gling team playing under an in-

terim coach after Sunday’s firing

of Chris Ash, Maryland should

have more of a cushion. But a

relatively clean performance

would provide reassurance that

this team can assess mistakes and

quickly adjust.

Locksley placed the onus on

himself. A typical option would

be swapping out the players who

made the errors. But with the way

Maryland has racked up injuries

in recent weeks, the coaching

staff will primarily need to guide

the usual contributors toward

better play.

Maryland finished last season

as one of the most penalized

teams in the nation while run-

ning interim coach Matt Canada’s

motion-based offense. The Terps

averaged 79.7 penalty yards, sec-

ond-most of 129 Football Bowl

Subdivision teams. Through the

first two games of 2019, Maryland

lost only 75 yards through penal-

ties. Those marks shot up in the

two losses that followed — a total

of 18 flags for 173 yards.

Since he became Maryland’s

coach, Locksley has preached the

importance of discipline. He car-

ried that over from three years at

Alabama but also credits former

Terps coach Ralph Friedgen for

that philosophy. During Fried-

rapidly slip out of reach. Two of

Maryland’s first three drives end-

ed with interceptions. Only 10 of

Maryland’s offensive plays began

inside the 50-yard line. Nine of

those came on the third drive,

which ended with an intercep-

tion; the other came in the final

quarter on a fourth-down at-

tempt from the 48 that resulted

in a sack. Meanwhile, the Nittany

Lions needed just four snaps to

score their first two touchdowns.

“As a team, that’s probably the

most disappointing part of this

game, how we beat ourselves in

the first half,” offensive lineman

Ellis McKennie said. “We were

need help with being able to beat

us the way they did.”

Would fixing these problems

have changed the outcome

against Penn State? That’s doubt-

ful. Consider KJ Hamler’s im-

pressive 58-yard touchdown

catch. Yes, Maryland missed mul-

tiple tackles on the play, but that’s

also a testament to Hamler’s

speed and skill. While the Terps’

mistakes helped, Penn State did

plenty to earn its 59-0 win, a stark

reminder of the wide gap that still

separates Maryland from the Big

Ten’s top programs.

But since it all unraveled so

early, the Terps watched the win

ments — such problems still

plagued Maryland when it began

Big Ten play against Penn State.

The Terps turned the ball over

three times, and Penn State

scored a touchdown on each en-

suing drive. Locksley said the

staff found that 22 percent of the

offensive plays included a “self-

inflicted error,” such as a penalty,

turnover, dropped pass or sack.

The team missed 17 tackles. Previ-

ously, Maryland had missed no

more than seven in a game. The

offensive line allowed four sacks.

“We’re already playing the

No. 12 team in the country,”

Locksley said. “I don’t think they

BY EMILY GIAMBALVO

Once Maryland had finally
pulled ahead of Temple, the Ter-
rapins’ defense was tasked with
preserving that lead — and at the
time their undefeated start to the
season — for just more than a
quarter of play.
Clinging to a two-point advan-
tage last month in Philadelphia,
Maryland recovered a fumble on
the Owls’ final possession of the
third quarter. But on Temple’s
next drive, the Terps twice hand-
ed over yards — and once a new
set of downs on a third-and-14
play — through penalties. Temple
scored soon after and never
trailed again in its 20-17 victory.
Maryland’s sputtering offense
became the focus in the days that
followed, but on the Owls’ go-
ahead drive, the Terrapins saw
firsthand how preventable mis-
cues can swing a game out of
their favor. Senior defensive back
Tino Ellis was the culprit in both
instances, called first for pass
interference and then for hold-
ing, but the entire team had
fallen victim to self-inflicted set-
backs.
The program had an open date
after the Temple loss to pinpoint
and solve those issues, but they
resurfaced against Penn State last
weekend, leaving Coach Michael
Locksley again hoping that his
team will be less error-prone
when it plays Saturday at Rut-
gers.
“We need to get it straight
quickly,” Locksley said this week.
“Our guys, we talk about it all the
time. Discipline will precede win-
ning. Part of discipline is not
beating yourself.”
After two solid outings to open
the season — reflected both in the
games’ outcomes and the much
shorter list of undisciplined mo-

To Locksley, halting this skid is as simple as addressing self-inflicted wounds

JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST

“Part of discipline is not beating yourself,” Coach Michael Locksley said of Maryland’s two-game slide.

NHL ROUNDUP

Konecny scores twice to lift Philadelphia in front of packed house in Prague

Samsonov sparkles in long-awaited debut in net for Capitals

FLYERS 4,

BLACKHAWKS 3

BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES

Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, a former first-round pick of Washington, watches after T.J. Oshie netted the winner for the Capitals.

Capitals 2, Islanders 1

WASHINGTON ......................... 1 1 0 — 2

N.Y. ISLANDERS ...................... 1 0 0 — 1

FIRST PERIOD

Scoring: 1, Washington, Vrana 2 (Gudas, Eller), 10:25. 2,

N.Y. Islanders, Toews 1 (Beauvillier, Komarov), 12:27.

Penalties: None.

SECOND PERIOD

Scoring: 3, Washington, Oshie 1 (Backstrom, Carlson),

17:43 (pp). Penalties: Eller, WSH, (hooking), 2:23;

Nelson, NYI, (tripping), 6:00; Nelson, NYI, (hooking),

16:48.

THIRD PERIOD

Scoring: None. Penalties: None.

SHOTS ON GOAL

WASHINGTON ....................... 10 8 10 — 28

N.Y. ISLANDERS ...................... 9 9 8 — 26

Power-play opportunities: Washington 1 of 2; N.Y.

Islanders 0 of 1.