Washington Capitals: Braden Holtby has Redeemed Himself One Year Later
Braden Holtby has been a mainstay between the pipes for the Washington Capitals for the last nine seasons but at this point in time one year ago, Holtby’s future in Washington was unclear.
Holtby’s goals-against average was a career-high 2.99 and his save percentage .907, a career-low in 54 games. Although he did still manage to win 34 games, it wasn’t the Holtby standards that Capitals fans were used to. That season, Holtby lost the starting goalie job to begin the playoffs to then-backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Then-head coach Barry Trotz decided to go with Grubauer because he was just simply the hot hand.
Plans changed in the third period of Game 2 of the Capitals’ first round series with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After Grubauer and the Capitals allowed four goals in both games, the first one resulting in an overtime loss and the second one having the Capitals trail 4-3 entering the third period.
Holtby came into Game 2 and stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in the third period and overtime and hasn’t lost the starting job since. Holtby carried the Capitals all the way to the Stanley Cup with a 2.16 GAA, .922 save percentage and even had a highlight-reel save to go along with it in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That big save led to a win for the Capitals and they would go on to win the next three after that to win the coveted prize.
This season, Holtby sits at 26-16-4 with a 2.88 GAA and .910 save percentage but his performances lately have been encouraging and unlike last year there isn’t a dbout that the Holtbeast will backstop the Capitals in their Stanley Cup defense. Holtby has won five games in a row and has won seven of his last nine starts. In those nine games. Holtby’s save percentage is .925. For the five game winning streak? A .935 save percentage.
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Holtby also has a couple of milestones to boot. On Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Holtby stopped 27-of-30 shots in a 5-3 Capitals win for the 250th win of his career. He became the second-fastest goaltender in NHL history to win 250 games, taking him 409 games to accomplish the feat.
On Friday night, the Capitals continued to roll with their sixth win in a row in a 3-0 shutout over the Devils. Holtby was stellar in the shutout, stopping all 25 shots he faced. Last season it took until Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals for Holtby to record a shutout. That happened to be against a high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning team that could be a challenge to the Capitals this spring.
Holtby’s win was more than a shutout. It put him in elite company alongiside Capitals legend Olaf Kolzig. Each netminder has had 35 shoutouts in his career and Holtby needs just one more to pass him.
“Shutouts have been a little harder to get the last couple of years but it’s cool to be part of an organization long enough to be able to do that so it’s pretty cool,” said Holtby.
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Last season, Holtby’s future in Washington was uncertain. After what he and the team accomplished in the spring as well as thus far in the homestretch of the season, it looks like Holtby isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Capitals won’t have to worry about that until the summer of 2020 when he is an unrestricted free agent.