Washington Capitals now relying on goaltending more than ever in lieu of Offence -NHL Playoffs Special
The 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season was all about veteran goaltender, Tomas Vokoun, for Washington Capitals as the goalie made a move from Florida Panthers during the offseason, but who knew that rookie net minder, Braden Holtby, would
have become even more valuable?
Now as the Washington Capitals entered the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs without either Tomas Vokoun or regular goalie, Michal Neuvirth, the once Eastern Conference reigning team was now on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Capitals have it all. They have Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera and Troy Brouwer with the amazing scoring abilities along with a number of top class defenseman like Dennis Wideman, Mike Green and Roman Hamrlik, but they were
without solid goaltending, or to be honest, without any goaltending at all.
Vokoun and Neuvirth took off with respective injuries and have been ruled out by the team for the remainder of the playoffs, forcing Capitals to recall a young goalie that has never played in the postseason in his life to help them in the opening round and
that too, against Stanley Cup defending champions, the Boston Bruins.
Washington was not too thrilled about letting Braden Holtby take over the goalie post after having only 21 NHL regular season games played in the past two years under his belt, but could they be blamed?
Ending the regular season barely able to make the postseason and then losing all goalies going against Boston, the Capitals were just about ready to give it all up and throw in the towel, but that is until Holtby’s wings emerged from his back and he became
the saviour for the Washington team.
"That wasn't pretty," Capitals owner, Ted Leonsis, said afterward. "That was beautiful."
Holtby’s amazing goaltending as he started all seven games, registered a .940 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average, stunned the entire league with his mature playing and aggressive stance against the known-to-be physical Bruins.
"This is a series here that we weren't supposed to win," Capitals forward, Mike Knuble, said. "It's one step for us. We got more steps to go."
Holtby has definitely proven himself as a potential legend in the making and will certainly be a top candidate for Washington in the years to come with their next challenge being against New York Rangers in round-two.
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