Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff made his first NHL win a memorable one with a 19-save shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0.
Even better for him? He made team history by doing it that way.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Zatkoff is first goaltender in Penguins history to record a shutout in his first NHL win. He’s also the first Penguins rookie to record a shutout since Marc-Andre Fleury did it in 2006.
Zatkoff inherited the backup job when Tomas Vokoun went out with a blood clotting issue in preseason. As Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review shared, Zatkoff was just trying to improve on what he failed to do against the New York Islanders last week - close down a game with a win.
“(Saturday) I just kept telling myself it’s about the process: minute by minute, shot by shot,” Zatkoff said. “I tried not to look at the clock, just make saves. I don’t think I looked up until that last timeout at about two minutes.
“It was a pretty long two minutes.”