Photo: @Capitals
The Washington Capitals announced prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington) that they have recalled goaltenders Craig Anderson from the taxi squad and Zach Fucale from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Fucale was assigned to the taxi squad.
Head coach Peter Laviolette announced that Ilya Samsonov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury this morning and Vitek Vanecek will start against the Sabres. Anderson, who has made 29 saves on 34 shots (.853 save percentage) in two games this season, will be his backup.
Fucale, 25, is 6-2-0 with a .932 save percentage, a 1.75 goals-against average, and one shutout with the Bears this season.
The Montreal Canadiens drafted him 36th overall in 2013 and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Capitals on August 19. He made stops with the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning in the past two seasons.
Fucale has yet to play an NHL game in his career.
The Capitals’ next game is scheduled to be against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon, the first game of a back-to-back.
By Harrison Brown
Fucale has been excellent in Hershey. He deserves a shot, could be hottest netmind of all three and has more NHL experience.