A Breakthrough year for Washington Capitals' Goalie Braden Holtby -NHL Playoffs Special
Going into the playoffs is never easy when you do not have a star goalie defending your net and it is even harder when you do not have any goalie at all. Same was the situation with the Washington Capitals as they lost veteran goaltender, Tomas Vokoun and
Michal Neuvirth going into the postseason.
Washington needed a miracle and they were not too optimistic when Capitals were forced to recall Braden Holtby from their minor league affiliates in the American Hockey League (AHL), the Hershey Bears.
To their surprise, Holtby not only blew them away with his spectacular performance in outplaying a goalie like Tim Thomas in the quarterfinals against Boston Bruins, helping to eliminate them in Game 7, but is still putting up a fight against New York Rangers’
Henrik Lundqvist.
Both Thomas and Lundqvist are known to be some of the superior goalies in the National Hockey League (NHL) today, but Holtby did not flinch at all and faced each matchup like he had 10 plus years of playing experience in the major league.
“He’s the best in the game. You know that,” said Holtby while talking about Lundqvist. “But I can’t be looking at him. I can’t be admiring. I’ve got a job to do. We want to beat that guy.”
Last summer, Holtby was a goalie that had been told that he was not going to seeing much time on the ice with the Capitals because of Tomas Vokoun dominating the net but to things were meant to work to his advantage and he definitely was given a chance of
a lifetime near the playoffs.
One thing that Holtby has is confidence and a lot of it too.
He has played all 11 games in the postseason for Washington thus far and when the Capitals’ offensive squad was not performing up-to-par sometimes, Holtby was still blocking pucks like it was a walk in the park for him.
With 1.94 goals-against average and .933 save percentage, Holtby is one of the best in the game at the moment and this year has turned out to be a blessing for Washington as they now have legendary goalie in the making.
Tags: