According to general manager Tom Fitzgerald, the 26-year-old reinforcement from Washington was supposed to stabilize the Devils’ goaltending. But this was not expected. In Montreal, Vaněček picked up his seventh win (5:1) in a row! Something similar happened to Brodeur in the 2010-11 season in a club that would like to return to the playoffs.
“I felt comfortable. Now I try to improve with every next match. I believe that I can be even better in the future,” declared Vaněček, who eliminated 25 Montreal shots.
Last week, the Czech goalkeeper missed the match with Ottawa when he received a knee to the head from Thomas Chabot. He didn’t even appear between the posts on the weekend with Arizona. In Montreal’s Bell Centre, however, he reliably controlled his space, even handling four shots by Slovakian number one draft pick Juraj Slafkovský.
“He caught great. He already had five excellent saves in the first period. He was confident and calm, which is exactly what we need,” coach Lindy Ruff nodded.
The Devils are currently in the best shape of any NHL team. They have won 10 times in a row and are only two points behind leaders Boston in the overall competition table. In club history, New Jersey has only recorded two longer streaks – 11 wins in 2005-06 and 13 wins in 2000-01.
“Ten wins in a row is enough. I really wish we could continue this. We are playing very well, but there is always room for improvement. There’s no danger of us getting complacent,” thinks Vaněček, who has a career average of 2.63 goals conceded. This season, however, he has increased it to 2.17! And on top of that, he has a success rate of 91.5 percent.
“I am very happy with Vítek, we are in contact. He catches tremendously,” said Sport.cz Patrik Eliáš, the most productive player in Devils history and another icon who has a following in the current squad. Swede Jesper Bratt broke the twenty-point mark (6+15) in his sixteenth start of the season. The last New Jersey player to do so he did it faster, it was Eliáš in the 2001-02 season, he needed 13 games to do it.
“The system has changed a bit, the changes in individual fives are working for us. The boys can win in a slightly different way every time, which is also extremely important,” observed the Czech man in his forties.
The Devils are now the 61st team in NHL history to dominate ten consecutive games. Of the sixty previous teams, 58 (96.7 percent) made it to the playoffs. Even though it’s only mid-November, they’re doing great in New Jersey. And it is also the merit of Vaněček, who has been giving dazzling ‘Brodeur’ performances in recent weeks.
