The last time Capitals goalie Braden Holtby lost in back-to-back appearances was Nov. 19 (5-0, Winnipeg) and Nov. 22, 2010 (5-0, New Jersey). He has played in 28 games since that date and started 26 of them, without suffering two losses in a row. And he has a distinct memory of that last loss to the Devils, where he allowed five goals in the first 27:48 and as a rookie back-up goalie was left in to take a beating.
“Last year I had a bit of an awakening moment when I played the Devils last year and I played terribly,” Holtby recalled. “I think I was just a little shell-shocked with the names that I played against. Arnott was still there and Kovalchuk and stuff. But you get used to it pretty quick. It’s still hockey.”
And, of course, he was in the net that night opposing goalie Martin Brodeur, who at age 40 just helped New Jersey advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Maybe that’s why Holtby hasn’t been fazed in playoff series against Tim Thomas and now Henrik Lundqvist.
Holtby will need to keep that back-to-back streak intact if he wants to help Washington push the Eastern Conference semifinal series against New York to a Game 7. He will make his 13th career playoff start tonight in Game 6 with his team facing elimination. So does anything change? After all, Holtby was in goal for Game 7 against the Bruins in the first round and gave his team a chance to win in overtime. No changes, says Holtby, a 22-year-old who sticks to his routines.
“I think that’s the hardest thing,” Holtby said. “Everyone puts a lot of pressure on themselves in big games like this and is trying to almost dumb it down to a level to where you feel comfortable, where you felt like you’ve played the game before. And to just do what got you here and what you’ve planned for your whole life to play like this.”
Holtby has stopped 370 of 397 shots in the postseason so far. That’s good for a .932 save percentage and has been enough to give Washington a shot to win every single night for three weeks. But he can’t afford a letdown now. Holtby says the pressure isn’t on him when pressed. But his team’s season hinges in part on another strong effort.
“I think we have a lot of talent, we have a lot of character and that usually translates into winning games,” Holtby said. “We’re not looking at this as a downfall, going with our backs against the wall. I think we’re just confident in our ability to win two games and the focus is on the first one.”
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