Alex Ovechkin will have a familiar target in net for the Florida Panthers on Saturday evening. According to the AP’s Stephen Whyno, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice is giving Vitek Vanecek a start against his former Capitals squad.
Ovechkin has played four games against Vanecek since he left the Capitals, but has yet to score against his former teammate. Vanecek is one of just 29 goalies who have faced an Ovechkin shot and never surrendered a goal, and is one of 10 goalies to ever face 10-plus shots from Ovechkin and never give up a goal.
Vanecek joined the Panthers in a trade shortly before the deadline after starting the season with the San Jose Sharks. He has since made just two starts with his new team, going 1-1 and recording a shutout. Overall this season, the 29-year-old netminder is 4-11-3 with a 3.63 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage.
Ovechkin scored his 888th career goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. By scoring on Vanecek, he’d draw closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record and add to his record 182 unique goaltenders scored on during his 20-season career.
In 73 career games against the Panthers, Ovechkin has recorded 90 points (45g, 45a). Ovechkin has only scored more goals against the New York Rangers (46), Tampa Bay Lightning (51), Carolina Hurricanes (51), Flyers (52), and Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers (56) than the Panthers.
The Panthers have won seven of their last 10 games and are first in the Atlantic Division, ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to the regulation wins tiebreaker. The Capitals have won both prior meetings against Florida this season, with Ovechkin scoring a buzzer-beater empty-net goal in a 6-3 win on February 4.
