Compile a list of the top goalies in the NHL and his name will rarely appear on it. Dwayne Roloson is used to that after a long career spent fighting for playing time, let alone recognition. But the 41-year-old is not to be underestimated, either. No, the numbers he put up for the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning in 54 games this season aren’t eye-popping (.914 save percentage; 2.59 goals-against average).
But Roloson is more than capable of ending the Capitals’ season when the Lightning faces Washington in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Friday night at Verizon Center. He stopped 243 of 256 Pittsburgh Penguins shots in Tampa Bay’s come-from-behind series victory in the first round, including a 36-save shutout in Game 7 on Wednesday. Just five years ago Roloson caught fire while with the Edmonton Oilers, leading that team to three series wins and the Stanley Cup finals before being injured in Game 1 of the championship round and lost for the series.
“I think [Roloson has] been really good,” Caps center Nicklas Backstrom said. “You can see he was the player of the game [in Game 7 against Pittsburgh]. That’s the kind of things you need in a hot goalie. I think we need to do the same thing we did with [Rangers goalie Henrik] Lundqvist – a lot of traffic in front of the net and try to shoot for rebounds.”
The Lightning acquired Roloson on Jan. 1 to shore up their shaky goalie situation. He was solid during the regular season, starting 34 of Tampa’s final 43 games. But it is in big games where Roloson has made his reputation. He is now 6-0 when starting an elimination game for his team. Not bad for a late-bloomer who went undrafted out of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 1994 and is on his sixth team. He made his NHL debut with the Calgary Flames in 1996 at age 27. Washington has had its fill of Roloson already this season. He posted two shutouts against the Caps in January and has stopped 117 of 122 shots on goal in four meetings.
“[Roloson] seems like he competes every night,” defenseman Mike Green said. “He’s going to make it tough on us, we know. But as long as we get pucks to the net and we get bodies in front of him it doesn’t matter who is in net. If he can’t see it it’s going to go in.
Washington’s lone success against Roloson was a 5-2 win at Tampa Bay on Feb. 4 when it made a point to crash the net. Roloson took exception to Matt Hendricks doing so in the first period, clubbing the Caps forward with his blocker repeatedly until earning a roughing penalty. Hendricks went off, too, for goalie interference. But the Lightning were up 1-0 at the time and Backstrom scored for Washington while the teams played four-on-four, changing the tenor of that contest.
Washington coach Bruce Boudreau has known Roloson a long, long time – they clashed in the AHL playoffs in 2001 when the goalie and his Worcester club beat Boudreau’s Lowell team in the first round – and never seen him lose his cool like that. He doesn’t expect it to happen again – even if the Caps do try to make him a little uncomfortable.
“Not really. [Roloson] might have had a bad day. The kids might have been all over him at home before he got to the rink,” Boudreau said. “I don’t know what kind of mood he was in. I think as a goaltender he’s pretty good and when you’ve got the experience that he has he’s not going to flip out if you go near him.”
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