CAPITALS’ GOALIE HAS CANADIENS’ NUMBER
Outshot, outplayed but not outscored, Washington owes win to Holtby in net
You had the feeling the Washington Capitals left the Bell Centre Thursday night knowing they had dodged the proverbial hockey bullet, having been outplayed, sometimes badly, and outshot, widely, by the Canadiens.
But the Capitals had their invincible goaltender as their last line of defence, and so it was that they zipped a 3-2 win into their duffelbags for their sixth consecutive victory.
Netminder Braden Holtby remains undefeated, lifetime, vs. the Canadiens in regulation time, now 7-0-2 against Montreal. It was very largely Holtby’s work that gave the Capitals a chance to pounce when they did, twice surrendering leads before T.J. Oshie scored his second of the game 8:17 into the third period for what would be the game-winner.
Holtby ran his personal win streak to eight, and the result gave Capitals coach Barry Trotz his 620th career win, pulling him into a tie with Bryan Murray for 10th spot among NHL coaches all-time.
“Obviously, we didn’t have our best game but we got two points. Holts was unbelievable today,” said Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, usually a sniper against the Canadiens who had a quiet night with a single shot on goal.
Indeed, it was the first time this season that Ovechkin was held to one shot. His high came Nov. 10 against Detroit, a ridiculous 15.
The dynamic Russian skated through the first period Thursday without so much as a smudge on the stat sheet: no shots, no attempted shots, no blocked shots, no hits.
This from a guy who historically has dined on the Canadiens — 22 goals and 16 assists in 36 regular-season games since he broke into the league in 2005-06.
Ovechkin also has done better against Montreal at the Bell Centre than on home ice, having scored 10 with 10 assists in 18 games here.
Clearly, he knew that the Capitals had not been the better team on this night, and everyone in the dressing room owed the victory to the grizzly goaltender who had just stoned a strong Montreal attack.
“Sometimes we need that kind of effort from (Holtby) and he gave us a chance to stay in the game,” Ovechkin said. “Holts controlled it a lot.
“They’re fast,” he added of the Canadiens. “They’re going to create lots of chances in front of the net. The goals they scored, (Holtby) can’t do anything with. All the chances he stopped, how he played is unbelievable. You knew he was on top of his game and he was going to be hard to score on.”
The 35 Canadiens shots — Washington managed 19 on the Habs’ Mike Condon — were the most fired on a Capitals net this season; counting blocked shots and those that missed the target, the home team took 73.
Holtby turned aside nine shots by Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty alone, including a brilliant second-period pair on a shot and rebound and a marvellous pad save later off a crisp pass from David Desharnais.
Pucks were coming at Holtby from practically every angle, but he was every bit their equal, left without a chance on a doorstep goal by Lars Eller midway through the second and Brian Flynn’s lovely deke on a shorthanded breakaway early in the third.
“They played a good game,” Holtby said of the Canadiens. “Their record (now 19-5-3) is the way it is for a reason. They caught us on our heels a little bit but we stuck with it.
“The beauty of our team is we feel we can win in any situation. We win in a lot of different ways. It was a good two points but the way that (Canadiens) team is over there, we’re going to have a better outing against them the next time we play them.”
The recent vintage Capitals have a goofy-good record against the Canadiens, having won nine of their last 10 games in Montreal and having earned points in their past 12 games (10-0-2) at the Bell Centre.
It’s all part of hockey’s grand mystery, of course, no logical explanation for such a strong record in a building that of late has been tilted in the Canadiens’ direction.
“We seem to play well (here),” Holtby said, shrugging. “When you look at those kind of things, teams change so much over the years that you just try to prepare as best you can.
“Our guys get pretty excited to play here. It’s a fun place to play — passionate hockey fans, a lot of energy in the building.”
With teammates wolfing down dressing-room-imported Harvey’s burgers post-game, Ovechkin was anything but the hot dog he can be after the Capitals have disposed of an opponent.
“They’re a good team, obviously,” he said of the Canadiens “They play smart hockey, they have good players. We didn’t play our best game, especially in the second period. It’s a good lesson. It’s nice to get two points but we have to play better.”
And he’d hear no disagreement from the goaltender who had pulled the Capitals’ collective behinds out of the fire on this night.
“Obviously, (the Canadiens are) missing Carey (Price) and (Brendan) Gallagher but they play a very strong speed game, a forecheck game, all four lines.
“They’re quick, they’re going to stay near the top all season long. It’s going to be a good test to keep pushing ourselves forward.”