The Washington Capitals held off the Buffalo Sabres for a 2-1 win to go 2-0 on the young 56 game season thanks in large part to Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek shined in his NHL debut which was a long time coming. The 25 year old spent the last five years playing in the minors for the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Vanecek got an opportunity through unfortunate circumstances for the Caps free agent signee Henrik Lundqvist. Still, that doesn’t take away the chance he earned to get the spotlight on the backend of back to back games.
Vanecek was poised all evening and was simply lights out as he made 30 saves on 31 shots. Vanecek said after the game via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
"“The dream came true. I been here for five years, and I didn’t get NHL game. This one was the first one, so it feels so good. And we won, too. So it feels so good.”"
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Vanecek turned away his first 26 shots of the game before the Sabres finally broke through in the early seconds of the third period. That came on a shot from Rasmus Ristolainen. Just seven minutes later, Tom Wilson would break the tie and Vanecek would do the rest.
For Wilson it was an act of redemption as Ristolainen’s shot did deflect off Wilson’s leg. Wilson noted to reporters after the game that it was the only way the Sabres could score past the rookie.
When the final horn went off, players gave hockey hugs to their goalie. First in line was Tom Wilson. Then Jakub Vrana and Vanecek continued their long tradition and bromance from Hershey. When Vancek met with the media on Zoom after the game, Wilson came in hot with a shaving cream pie and got him right in the face after he answered the first question.
Highlights from @vitacz15's impressive 30-save performance en route to his first career NHL win.#CapsSabres | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Sd3DrdmkPf
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 16, 2021
Vancek wasn’t even phased from that either. He continued to answer his questions and he smartly wore a mask. He added:
"“I was a little bit nervous [the first] couple of minutes. But when they shoot the three shots early, so I just feeling better and better. When they had their power plays, I was feeling good.”"
Vanecek was drafted by the Caps in the second round in 2014. The last two seasons he was named an AHL All Star and even took home the AHL All Star Game MVP last season. He couldn’t have gotten his career off to a better start.