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Capitals: Top 3 heroes against Kings

ByMichael Marzzacco|
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring his first goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with his teammates after scoring his first goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 04: Kyle Clifford #13 of the Los Angeles Kings controls the puck against Nic Dowd #26 of the Washington Capitals in front of Braden Holtby #70 in the second period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 04: Kyle Clifford #13 of the Los Angeles Kings controls the puck against Nic Dowd #26 of the Washington Capitals in front of Braden Holtby #70 in the second period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)

Braden Holtby

The Caps turned it on late in the third period for their comeback but that wouldn’t have been possible had not for a good performance from Braden Holtby.

Holtby made 29 saves off of the 31 total shots he faced for a .935 save percentage. He only faced one shot on two power play attempts as the defense in front kept things tight.

John Carlson, the best defenseman on the Capitals, gave great praise after the game for the starting goalie. Via NHL.com’s Harvey Valentine:

"“[Holtby] came up big. As we do, we gave up a lot of chances there for a little stretch and kind of got our head on straight again and started to simplify it and not giving them anything good to thrive off.”"

It was Holtby’s second win in his last three games. In that stretch, Holtby has stopped 79 of 88 shots for an .898 save percentage. His record overall improves to 20-10-4 for a 3.08 goals-against average and a .987 save percentage.

There’s no word on who will get the start in the next game against the Flyers but the Capitals have the best one-two goalie punch in the league with Holtby and Samsonov backstopping the team with NHL’s best record.

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