Fucale Re-assigned to Bears

January 11, 2022

The Washington Capitals, the NHL affiliate of the Hershey Bears, have re-assigned goaltender Zach Fucale to the Hershey. The announcement was made by Washington's senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan.

Fucale, 26, returns to the Bears where he is 6-2-2 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage in 10 games this season. The netminder is in his second campaign with the Chocolate and White, and last year he led the AHL in goals-against average (1.80) and ranked second in save percentage (.932). He went 9-2-0, and Fucale, along with Pheonix Copley, received the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, presented to the goaltenders on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season. In 90 career AHL games, Fucale has a 43-36-6 record with a 2.88 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.

With Washington this season, Fucale is 1-1-1 with one shutout, a 1.75 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage in four games for the Capitals. Fucale became the first goaltender in Washington franchise history to record a shutout in his NHL debut when he stopped all 21 shots against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 11 at Little Caesars Arena.

In his second career NHL start on Jan. 8 against the Minnesota Wild, Fucale broke a Washington franchise record for the longest shutout streak by a goaltender from the start of a tenure with the franchise in the first period, besting Cristobal Huet's mark of 80:36. In the second period, he broke the NHL record for the longest career-opening shutout sequence. Fucale's streak ended at 138 minutes and 17 seconds, beating Matt Hackett’s (Minnesota) mark of 102:48 set in 2011.

The Bears return to action on Wednesday night versus the Bridgeport Islanders at GIANT Center. The puck drops at 7 p.m. and ticket information is available at HersheyBears.com.