Goaltending carousel continues for Washington

During Game one of their series against the Boston Bruins, the Washington Capitals were forced to turn to back-up goaltender Craig Anderson following an injury to Vitek Vanecek in the first period. Vanecek's status for the remainder of the series is up in the air and he's currently listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

"We're just getting off the ice here, so we'll go in tomorrow and we'll assess everything and address everything," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said following Sunday's practice.

"In this time of year, it doesn't matter what happened," Washington captain Alex Ovechkin said. "Somebody gets hurt, somebody didn't have a game right, we have to find a way. I think everybody understands that. It is time for us to step up."

At the age of 39, Anderson became the third-oldest goaltender to come into a playoff game in relief and record the win. Lester Patrick leads the list at 44 years old, while Curtis Joseph and Jacques Plante are tied for second at 40.

Anderson will likely start Game 2 on Monday night, with Phoenix Copley backing him up. Ilya Samsonov was on the ice this morning prior to Capitals practice, one day after being removed from the COVID-19 protocol list. Samsonov didn't play in Washington's game on May 3rd due to disciplinary reasons and was added to the league's COVID-19 list for a second time this season.

While Vanecek is likely to be out for the next little bit, and Samonov is just starting to skate after being off for nearly two weeks, the Capitals have turned to the minors for a third goalie. The team announced Sunday that they've called up Zachary Fucale from the Hershey Bears (AHL). Fucale appeared in 11 games for Hershey this season and put up some really good numbers. He had a record of 9-2-0, a 1.80 G.A.A., a .932 save percentage, and one shutout.

ROSTER MOVE #Caps made the following transaction today:

Recalled goaltender Zach Fucale from Hershey (AHL)— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 16, 2021

"Our goaltending depth is really good," Laviolette said. "You'd like to be healthy, you'd like to have everybody available, but this is what we're dealt. But I can tell you that there's a lot of confidence in Anderson. Pheonix Copley had a terrific year. Fucale's numbers are some of the best in the AHL. Hopefully Vanecek is on the mend and Samsonov works back into the mix. So we still feel like we have good depth and we still feel like we have good goaltenders."

The Capitals will look to take a 2-0 series lead on Monday night. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm ET on CBC and Sportsnet.

Source: NHL.com

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