Caps' goalie Vanecek leaves early in Game 1

Washington Capitals netminder Vitek Vanecek left Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Saturday night with a lower-body injury and did not return.

INJURY UPDATE#Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek sustained a lower body injury and will not return to tonight’s game. Pheonix Copley will serve as the emergency backup goaltender.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 16, 2021

Vanecek was replaced by veteran Craig Anderson with just under seven minutes to go in the first period against the Boston Bruins. He stopped three of four shots before leaving.

Washington went on to win the matchup 3-2 on an overtime winner from Nic Dowd. Head coach Peter Laviolette did not have an update on his goaltender after the game.

The 25-year-old had a 2.69 goals-against average and a save percentage of .908 in 37 games during the regular season.