Home / News / Capitals recall goaltender Zach Fucale from Hershey after Darcy Kuemper leaves practice with injury

Capitals recall goaltender Zach Fucale from Hershey after Darcy Kuemper leaves practice with injury

By Chris Cerullo

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March 18, 2023 6:03 pm

The Washington Capitals announced that they have recalled goaltender Zach Fucale from the Hershey Bears late in the afternoon on Saturday.

The news comes after regular number one netminder Darcy Kuemper left practice earlier in the day with an upper-body injury. The Caps are flying to Minnesota to take on the Wild in a Sunday matinee matchup.

Fucale is making his second trip down to DC this season after a short time on the NHL roster in mid-December. He did not appear in any games but does have four games of NHL experience under his belt from the 2021-22 campaign.

In 33 games for the Bears this season, Fucale has a 19-10-2 record with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.

Kuemper was on the ice early for Saturday’s practice, left, chatted with a trainer, came back to stretch, spoke with head coach Peter Laviolette, and then left again. He did not return.

Laviolette was uncertain whether Kuemper would be traveling to Minnesota with the rest of the team. Kuemper’s injury is just the latest in a season full of them for the Caps.

“Nobody’s healthy in there right now,” Laviolette said. “There’s always things going on; there’s always things you’re dealing with. Obviously [Kuemper] was fine last night. He came off here so we’re examining that right now for upper body.”

Here’s the press release from the team:

Capitals Recall Zach Fucale from Hershey

The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Zach Fucale from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Fucale, 27, has posted a record of 19-10-2 with one shutout, a 2.57 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage in 33 games with Hershey this season. The 6’2″, 193-pound goaltender ranks tied for sixth in the AHL in wins.

Fucale appeared in four games with Washington during the 2021-22 season, posting a record of 1-1-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. Fucale stopped all 21 shots faced in his NHL and Capitals debut at Detroit on Nov. 11, 2021, becoming the first Capital in franchise history to record a shutout in his debut. Additionally, Fucale set an NHL record for the longest career-opening shutout sequence (138:07), passing former Minnesota Wild goaltender Matt Hackett’s mark of 102:48 by over 35 minutes at Minnesota on Jan. 8.

The Laval, Quebec native appeared in 31 games with Hershey in 2021-22, posting an 11-15-5 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. The 6’2″, 189-pound goaltender recorded three shutouts, which led Hershey and set an AHL single-season career high. In 144 career AHL games with Hershey, the Syracuse Crunch, Chicago Wolves, Laval Rocket and St. John’s IceCaps, Fucale has a record of 67-59-11 with seven shutouts, a 2.76 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.

Fucale was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round, 36th overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB

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