Vitek Vanecek Gets The Start, Conor Sheary Game Time Decision Against Bruins

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals complete their back-to-back weekend set of afternoon matinees Sunday afternoon when they host the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 1:30 PM.
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette met with the media Sunday morning. He confirmed Vitek Vanecek will get the start in goal. Conor Sheary will be a game time decision.

Vitro Vanecek will start in net for the Capitals vs. the Bruins this afternoon.

Sounds like Conor Sheary will take warmup today after sitting out yesterday with non-COVID illness.

Laviolette said Sheary will slot back onto the top line with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov if he plays

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 10, 2022

The Capitals announced just before warmups that Nicklas Backstrom would not play today against the Bruins. It was a maintenance day for him.

#caps Nicklas Backstrom (body maintenance) will not play today vs Boston.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 10, 2022

The Bruins will start Linus Ullmark in goal. David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm are out for the Bruins.

Coach Bruce Cassidy said yesterday that Linus Ullmark will start for the Bruins against the Capitals today.

David Pastrnak (unspecified) and Hampus Lindholm (lower body) will remain out for Boston.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 10, 2022

Similar goaltending stats heading into this one: Vitek Vanecek (17-11-0-5, 2.60 GAA, .911 sv%). Linus Ullmark (23-9-0-2, 2.58 GAA, .912 sv%)

Boston Bruins

The Capitals face the Boston Bruins this afternoon for the third and final time this season. The Capitals are 20-8-0 (.714 point percentage) against the Bruins since the start of the 2014-15 season, the most wins in the NHL versus Boston during that span (second, New York Rangers: 15 wins). During that same span, Washington is 10-4-0 vs. Boston at Capital One Arena and have outscored the Bruins 45-33 in those 14 games. Today’s game also concludes Washington’s 11th back-to-back set of the season. The Capitals enter the game with a 5-3-2 record in the second half of back-to-back sets, including a 4-3-1 record when they win the first game.

Gain Steam

Since March 1, the Capitals are 11-4-1 (.719 points percentage). In that span, the Capitals own the sixth-highest points percentage in the NHL, the fourth-highest in the Eastern Conference (Florida Panthers: 16-2-1, .868 points percentage; Boston Bruins: 13-4-1, . 750 points percentage; New York Rangers: 14-5-1, .725 points percentage) and the second-highest in the Metropolitan Division.

The Capitals have converted on 32% of their power play opportunities (16 of 50) and have killed 84.4% of their penalties (38 of 45), ranking third and sixth, respectively in each category since March 1. Washington and the Vancouver Canucks are the only two teams in the NHL to rank in the top-6 in both categories during that span.

Prior to March 1, Washington was tied for 27th in power play percentage (16.4%, 27 of 165) and tied for 14th in penalty kill percentage (80.1%, 121 of 151). 21 of the 25 Capitals skaters who have played since March 1 have recorded a point. Evgeny Kuznetsov leads the team with 19 points during that span (8g, 11a), while Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 12 goals. Seven players have four or more goals since March 1 (Ovechkin: 12g; Kuznetsov: 8g; Tom Wilson and Anthony Mantha: 5g; Dmitry Orlov, Conor Sheary and Martin Fehervary: 4g).

Down On The Farm

Capitals center prospects Bear Hughes and Henrik Rybinski went head-to-head last night in Seattle. Each had a goal and an assist in the game. Henrik Rybinski struck first to stretch Seattle’s lead to 3-0.

‘Tired’ is not in Henrik Rybinski’s dictionary. Scoring is though.@SeattleTbirds | @Capitals pic.twitter.com/KZ5gJ8UT37

— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 10, 2022

Bear Hughes would answer Rybinski’s tally scoring the very next goal in the game.

Cap worked hard for that one! We get on the board to end the second, 3-1.

🚨 Bear Hughes
🍎Blake Swetlikoff#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/PytGxhRXpq

— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) April 10, 2022

Both prospects had a goal and an assist in the game.