Sanford makes his case to stay a little longer with first goal
Reassigned to the AHL after Saturday’s win, he could return after break
WASHINGTON — Zach Sanford took a seat in the Washington Capitals’ locker room at Verizon Center after the second period Saturday night and gave himself a lecture. If he wanted to spend more time here, in this arena, with this team, he needed to play more aggressively to make an impression.
“I told myself I wanted to shoot a little more,” Sanford said.
Said coach Barry Trotz: “As I said to Zach when he was coming off the ice, ‘Don’t play tentative. Don’t play safe. Go for it.’ ”
That he did. With the Capitals and the Anaheim Ducks tied late in the third period, Sanford sent Brett Connolly’s pass toward goaltender John Gibson, and the puck went off Gibson’s arm before trickling past the goal line. You couldn’t write a better s cript with Sanford getting a second chance in the l i neup, in place of injured winger Andre Burakovsky, and scoring his first NHL goal — a game-winner, at that.
Sanford was recalled from Washington’s American Hockey League affiliate earlier this week, and with Burakovsky suffering a hand injury, Sanford played in his third-line right wing spot against the Ducks. He was reassigned after the game late on Saturday night, not a surprise with Washington going on a five-day bye week and the Hershey Bears playing and practicing in that time.
With Burakovsky expected to be out until at least mid-March, the Capitals will recall another forward when they return from the bye week. Consider Sanford’s goal his case to claim the role as Burakovsky’s tem- Saturday, 2 p.m. TV: Comcast SportsNet The Capitals’ Zach Sanford, right, celebrates his first career NHL goal Saturday, which gave Washington the lead in a 6-4 win over the Ducks. porary replacement.
“The more he’s up here, the more he gets comfortable,” Trotz said. “He may go back and forth a few more times. I don’t really have an answer for you. I do know this: Every time he comes up, he looks more and more comfortable, and that’s what you’re looking for from all of the young guys.”
Washington signed the 22-yearold out of Boston College after his sophomore season, and his play in the preseason had him in the lineup on Opening Night. But Sanford didn’t have the offensive production to maintain his place on the roster, sent down to the AHL after recording just one assist in 20 games. With some players nursing “nicks,” according to Trotz, Sanford was recalled earlier this week and Burakovsky’s injury Thursday thrust him into the lineup two days later.
Trotz called his early play “tentative.” Sanford received nearly 10 minutes of ice time (9:52) on Saturday, and the goal came on his lone shot. He was also on the ice for a goal against. “I think you could still see that he needs to work on some strength issues,” Trotz said. But with Washington’s third line of Lars Eller, Connolly and Burakovsky rolling — 16 goals in 21 games before Burakovsky’s injury — Sanford was able to keep the line’s scoring streak going.
“Obviously, there’s some plays I’d like to have back,” Sanford said. “At the end of the day, I thought our line played well, and we were able to pull it out in the end.”
Trotz said another candidate to get some playing time with Burakovsky out is rookie winger Jakub Vrana, who scored one goal and had two assists in 12 games earlier this season. But Vrana was a healthy scratch in Hershey’s game Saturday night after his turnover led to the opponents’ overtime game-winning goal in the previous game and he’s been in a recent scoring slump.
Meanwhile, Sanford got a first crack at Burakovsky’s spot in the lineup, and he’s expected to get a second crack when Washington plays again in a week.
“We’ve got him, and we’ve got other guys down in Hershey that have done well when they came up for us,” winger T.J. Oshie said. “We’ve got a deep organization right now, and it definitely plays to one of our strengths.”