Zachary Fucale, the third-string goaltender for the Washington Capitals has just broken another NHL record.
Having a shutout in his first career game, then shutting the door on St. Louis with 7 saves in 19:06 TOI last night in a 5-1 loss, and tonight going 33:05 minutes without surrendering a goal to the Minnesota Wild, he now holds the longest career-opening shutout sequence in NHL history.
Fucale entered the Capitals’ 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday in relief of starter Ilya Samsonov and got the nod against Minnesota from Head Coach Peter Laviolette.
The record was previously held at 102:48 set in 2011 by Matt Hackett of the Minnesota Wild.
And he did it.
Fucale, 26, became the first goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout in his NHL debut when he stopped all 21 shots against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 11 at Little Caesars Arena. In 10 games with the Bears this season, Fucale has posted a record of 6-2-2 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage.
What a rollercoaster it has been for Zach Fucale. He was recently re-assigned to the Capitals taxi squad from Hershey in place of goalie Hunter Shepherd.
Fucale was drafted 36th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2013 NHL draft, and has since spent multiple seasons playing in the AHL and ECHL.
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