3 years agoWashington Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek will be the masked man for the team's first game of the season on Wednesday against the Rangers. Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette has two strong options between the pipes with Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov, but it's the Czech netminder who gets the first opportunity to impress. The 25-year-old, who found himself as a member of the Seattle Kraken for a week in the summer, enjoyed a fine rookie campaign in the league last season with a 21-10-4 record, a 2.69 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and two shutouts. The Rangers don't generally enjoy their trips to Washington, having won just twice in the last 10 visits, so history strongly backs Vanecek in the matchup.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBaller
Source: JJ Regan