Last night, Zach Fucale, a 26 year old Canadian journeyman goalie with eight years of experience in the minor leagues, earned a shutout game for the Capitals—becoming the first goaltender in DC hockey history to pull a shutout for his NHL debut. It was also the first time an NHL goalie had done that since 2015 as the Caps took down the Red Wings 2-0.
Vitek Vanecek, one of the Capitals regular goalies, is nursing an injury so Fucale got called up from Hershey, the Caps top minor league team. Fucale was originally a second round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens back in 2013, and has been with the Caps organization since August of 2020, where he’s been outstanding for two of the Capitals minor league affiliates.
Zach Fucale stopped all 21 shots faced in his NHL debut, becoming the first goaltender in Capitals franchise history to record a shutout in their NHL debut.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 12, 2021
The Caps celebrated the achievement from Fucale appropriately.
an epic accomplishment deserves an epic celebration pic.twitter.com/0q4QuV8sWs
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 12, 2021
His postame interview featured him more or less in speechless and in shock. Rarely has a professional athlete felt so relatable.
First game, first shutout for Zach Fucale after spending eight years in the minors. 👏 👏 👏
(via @Capitals) pic.twitter.com/kxJBi1C45u
— NHL (@NHL) November 12, 2021
Fucale’s folks immediately made the trip from Montreal and Toronto and were absolutely adorable.
We love Zach Fucale's parents 🥺 pic.twitter.com/od3YMcxBDp
— NBC Sports Washington (@NBCSWashington) November 12, 2021
THE FIRST GOALIE IN CAPITALS HISTORY TO POST A SHUTOUT IN HIS NHL DEBUT
GO OFF, @Fucale31‼️ pic.twitter.com/MPNjMnQ3j1
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 12, 2021
Postgame, head coach Laviolette gave the game puck to Fucale and he was also awarded with the Capitals shield for defensive performance of the night (more on this).
An axe for Tiger and a shield for the tendie of the night.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/IyED8BUoW3
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 12, 2021
For the advanced analytics crowd, it was a sparkling performance from the netminder.
Okay, there's a lot going on in this chart, but key takeaways include:
1) Caps' goaltending over the last three years… not great, Bob!
2) Fucale's start last night was the 7th-best performance over that span and…
3) … better than all but one game Samsonov has ever had. pic.twitter.com/5idQNK9IAX— japersrink.bsky.social (@JapersRink) November 12, 2021
Caps legendary radio play-by-play man John Walton was appropriately excited.
"Zach Fucale! This is what dreams are made of!"
Hear @JohnWaltonPxP's final call on @CapitalsRadio as @Fucale31 becomes the first goalie in @Capitals franchise history to earn a shutout in his @NHL debut pic.twitter.com/Wsn337Ek74
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 12, 2021
Can’t argue this.
Zach Fucale has gone his entire NHL career without allowing a goal that's crazy
— 🤷♂️ (@CapitalsNow) November 12, 2021
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Fucale once Vanecek gets healthy. But he’s certainly earned more looks in the NHL, and nobody can ever take the magical night in Detroit away from him.
