Sunday, June 3, 2018

Sure Could Have Fooled Me

Brayden Hotby didn't have a single shutout in the regular season in 2017/18. I guess he was saving those for when his team, the Washington Capitals, needed them most.

It was, for all intents and purposes, an off-season by Brayden's standards. Making what happened in the postseason all the more remarkable.

For all of his accomplishments, Holtby was very normal in the regular season. For starters, he played just 54 games (Backup Philipp Grubauer got into 35), posted a GAA of a 2.99 and a S% of only .907. No shutouts of course.

Now let's pause to consider Grubauer's #'s from this past season: Not only did he get, THREE shutouts, but also had FAR better GAA and S%! Would Holtby lose his job?

Philipp went only 15-10-3 in 28 starts, but that doesn't tell the story how effective he was. His GAA was just 2.35, good enough for 6th in the league. How about his .923 S%? It was just outside the top 10. But, within .010 of Carter Hutton's league-leading .931.

But what about what happened in the playoffs?

Well, the Washington Captials DID go with Grubauer. For two games. He was up against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington to lose his first two starts at home, both in OT. But before he could even pick up a decision in game two, the Capitals went back to Holtby. And while he lost game two, he won his next four games as the Caps climbed off the canvas.

The second round series saw Washington face their nemesis Pittsburgh. Washington again had the home-ice advantage and this time, they had the Pens! After the smoke had cleared, the Capitals were heading to the conference finals with a six-game triumph over the two-time defending champions.

Well, Washington's luck seemed to have run out. Up against Tampa, Holtby slammed the door. 2 goals allowed in game 1. 2 goals allowed in game 2. And Washington was up 2-0 going home. Then, a groan as the Lighting proceeded to win the next three games.

Holtby made sure Washington didn't lose another game in the conference finals.

Picking a fine time to get his first shutout, it was Braden Holtby posting a 3-0 shutout in a do-or-die game six at home.



They still needed game seven on the road, of course. And Holtby picked up his second (straight) shutout of the postseason with a 4-0, series-clinching victory. Braden turned aside all 29 shots he faced.



So far in the Stanley Cup Finals, Holtby doesn't have a shutout. In fact, the Vegas Golden Knights got five past him in game one. Washington needed game two before returning home for the third and fourth contest. Again, no shutout. But a 3-2 win. Series tied. Back home, Holtby came close to a third shutout with a 3-1 win. I'm sure he's fine with that.


But who knows. The Stanley Cup is far from in the bag. Game five is in Las Vegas. But before that, there's the matter of game four, the crucial contest. I believe that Vegas will win game five, but if Washington can win game four at home it will put the Caps up 3-1.

The Capitals are still looking for that first Stanley Cup, having entered the NHL way back in 1974/75. The game two win in Vegas was the first game they'd ever won in the Stanley Cup Finals. Game three was the first game they've ever won at home in the Stanley Cup Finals. Twenty years ago, Washington was swept by Detroit in the finals. They've come a long way since with Alexander Ovechkin. If you can believe it, he's turning 33 in September.

No doubt, though, the key man is defending the crease for Washington. Will Holtby need a shutout in the finals? He very well could. The Capitals are, needless to say, in uncharted waters. Maybe they'll break down defensively. Maybe the offence will dry up. But, whose the guy that can "steal" you games, and not just in the playoffs? The goalie, of course. I'm sure Holtby won't mind getting a tough two more shutouts this postseason, knowing what that will me to him and the franchise!


References


“Official Site Of The National Hockey League.” NHL.com, National Hockey League. Web. 3 Jun. 2018, <www.nhl.com/>.

Sports Reference LLC.Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 03 Jun. 2018.


Youtube. Web. 03 Jun. 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

No comments:

Post a Comment