Photo: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
After losing the first two games of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Rangers, the New Jersey Devils will sit goaltender Vitek Vanecek and start Akira Schmid in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday (8 PM ET, ABC, ESPN+) with their season on the line.
Vanecek, 26, allowed nine goals on 52 shots (.827 save percentage) in the first two games of the series, where New York beat New Jersey by a score of 5-1 each time.
Schmid, 22, went 9-5-2 with a .922 save percentage, 2.13 goals-against average, and a shutout in 18 regular-season games. He will make his postseason debut on Saturday.
New Jersey acquired Vanecek from the Washington Capitals on July 8.
Vanecek entered last postseason as Washington’s starter but coughed it up after posting an .863 save percentage and a 4.21 goals-against average in the first five periods of the team’s first-round series against the Florida Panthers before Ilya Samsonov took the job again and never looked back. Those would be Vanecek’s final moments on the ice as a Capital.
By Harrison Brown