Vitek Vanecek recorded his first NHL shutout as the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres Monday night at Key Bank Center 6-0.
Washington (18-6-4) heads home for a game with the first-place New York Islanders at Capital One Arena Tuesday night with first place in the MassMutual Division at stake.
The Caps took the lead just before the end of the first period when Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his third goal of the season off a feed from Justin Schultz. The Caps never looked back, scoring three times in the second.
Nicklas Backstrom tipped in a TJ Oshie feed two minutes and 41 seconds into the period, and the rout was on. Richard Panik made the score 3-0 less than three minutes later, and the game was basically over.
Vanecek was stellar in goal-stopping all 23 Sabres shots in his first career shutout.
“It mean really a lot you know, 21 games, I was so happy we do it today,” Vanecek said after the game. “I’m happy my season start out like that. I play 21 games, and I feel comfortable in the net and then working hard for the team and helping win every game, so I feel really comfortable.”
Head coach Peter Laviolette has been one of Vanecek’s biggest boosters this year, and his faith in the 25-year-old rookie has been rewarded.
“He’s played really well for us. I’ve said it before; he’s given us a chance to win on a nightly basis,” Laviolette said. “It’s nice for him to get his first shutout, and I thought the guys were really good in front of him for two periods, and then he had to really work for it, and he was able to get it done. Our guys were really happy.”
Daniel Sprong made the score 4-0 at the 15:07 mark of the second period. Washington added a goal from Garnett Hathaway 6:46 into the third period. Alex Ovechkin then added a sixth goal late in the game. For Ovechkin, it was career goal 717, tying him for sixth on the all-time goals list.
The big win gave the coaching staff a chance to rest some key players down the stretch, an important fact considering the Islanders were sitting in a D.C. hotel waiting for tomorrow night’s game.
“It’s definitely on our mind as the game progressed on how we could manage the bench,” Laviolette said. “We understand it’s a big game tomorrow. We’ll let the guys rest in the morning and be ready to go.”