DETROIT -- Zach Fucale became the first goaltender in Capitals history to post a shutout in his NHL debut, stopping 21 shots as Washington beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 Thursday night.
Dmitry Orlov and Lars Eller scored 10 seconds apart in the first period as the Capitals ended Detroit's three-game win streak.
The 26-year-old Fucale was picked by Montreal in the second round of the 2013 draft. He was 3-0-2 this season for Hershey before the Capitals called him up this week from the American Hockey League.
"I can't dream it better, to be honest," Fucale said. "This is a really great moment. At the end of the day, it's a great win, and it's been a hell of a journey.
"But now one is out of the way, we move on and we go to the next game. That's the reality of it."
"He was good, he was sharp," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "And then even through the course of the rest of the game, there was a couple big saves that he had to make in there."
Fucale also became the first goaltender to shut out the Red Wings in his NHL debut in Detroit's 95 seasons. He came up big early as Detroit controlled play for the first 8 minutes.
Fucale found out he was starting on Wednesday night and his father, Jack, drove down from Montreal. His mother, Catherine, came from Toronto, where she was working.
"They kind of just met here, some family friends made it as well," Fucale said. "I'm real happy. This is really cool that they're here."
Fucale got a big dousing of water from teammates upon entering the locker room after the win.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
