Rookie goalie Braden Holtby did it again. With the defending Stanley Cup champions hoping to put a stranglehold on this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, Holtby managed to stop 44 of 45 Boston Bruins shots and in the process helped lift his team to a 2-1 victory.
There’s never been a break here. Neither team has ever led by more than a goal. Holtby has had plenty of help from his teammates – save large swaths of Game 3 on Monday. In all, Holtby has stopped 141 of 148 shots (.953 save percentage). The 22-year-old is making this series his own – even if he doesn’t see it that way. Forgetting soft goals, like the one he says Rich Peverley scored on him at 13:12 of the first period, still aren’t easy to let go of for Holtby.
“Oh no. I haven’t been that way. I’m still working on that,” Holtby said. “That first goal, like [associate goalie coach] Olie [Kolzig] was saying, that’s one I know I can have, I know I can stop. My goal going into the second period, especially, after that goal, was to make sure I’m giving myself the right chance to make saves and to be more patient. I wasn’t patient on that first goal. That’s one of the things I’ve just learned over the years is realize what you did wrong and try to fix it and you’re done with it. You’re moving on.”
That’s the best possible philosophy for the postseason. Holtby played one of the best games of his life – or at least one of the steadiest in a pressure situation against the defending Stanely Cup champions – and remained cool, calm and collected and still found things to nitpick in his own game.
“I love watching that, and I think the best part about it,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “[Holtby] makes a great glove save and drops the puck and leans on his post. He makes it look so easy.”
Unfortunately, there’s no rest for the weary in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Holtby has played three excellent games and a so-so fourth and all that’s given him is a 2-2 tie with at least two more difficult games to come. It’s possible he will have to be just as good – if not better – twice at TD Garden over a five-day period for Washington to advance. That’s a problem that starts Saturday, though. For now,
“My type of fun is intensity, is big games, big moments,” Holtby said. “I might not show it on my face, but that’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve always had the most fun when I’m battling and competing.”
Don’t remember too many10-bell saves for Holtby thanks to his teammates again keeping the Bruins out of the crease are for the most part and sweeping away the bad rebounds. Holtby made a strong pad save on Boston’s Milan Lucic at 15:06 of the first period. A flurry in the second period tested him starting with a glove save on defenseman Zdeno Chara (18:18), a Brad Marchand shot (15:49), where Mike Green blocked the follow attempt. Stick tap to Alex Ovechkin for, well, handing Green his stick after his snapped. Another Chara drive featured a juicy rebound, but Green skated the puck out of trouble – see, it isn’t all Holtby – but the rookie made a fine pad save again moving right to left on Tyler Seguin after a Marchand pass (15:19).
[Rebound control] is big. I think that was one of their goals today,” Holtby said. “They threw a lot off the wing to my far pad and far blocker, even some creative ones. The one guy just kind of floated one to my blocker. I had nowhere to put it but in a guy’s body. That’s an NHL play. My job is to deal with those rebounds.”
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