Goaltending was a big reason why the Boston Bruins came into Sunday on a hot streak, but Braden Holtby showed that the Washington Capitals boast an outstanding netminder, too.
Holtby stopped all 32 Bruins shots as Washington won 2-0 tonight, securing the top wild card spot for the Capitals. They now have a two-point lead over Boston for that position and enjoy a healthy margin against the East’s bubble teams.
Holtby is impressing if you look at things from a short-term perspective:
With the shutout win, Braden Holtby extends his personal shutout streak against the Bruins to 126:43.
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) March 16, 2015
... Yet he’s had a great season overall, too, as he now has eight shutouts and 33 wins in 2014-15.
Now, let’s not forget that Tuukka Rask was strong in his own right, as you can see most obviously from this sprawling stop:
Holtby obviously stole the show, though, as Washington’s two goals were clearly enough for the win. (Nicklas Backstrom collected two assists, setting a new Capitals franchise record for that stat.)
It wasn’t a perfect game in every way for the Capitals, as Alex Ovechkin experienced this, um, uncomfortable moment:
Still, he seems OK, and winning a big game probably helps to soothe that pain a bit.