Capitals’ Holtby quick to bounce back
Washington goalie puts East Game 2 semifinal loss in past, ices Rangers
WASHINGTON — Exactly two years after recording the first playoff shutout of his career against the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby did it again, proving he is a pretty sure bet after losing the game before.
Holtby turned aside all 30 shots he faced, including a late barrage with Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist pulled for an extra attacker, to lead the Capitals to a 1-0 victory on Monday and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-7 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
Capitals center Jay Beagle scored the game’s only goal with 7:31 gone in the second period to provide the difference.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Washington.
With the win, Holtby improved his playoff record to 9-3 following games he has lost. He was in net Saturday night in a 3-2 Game 2 loss to the Rangers.
Holtby has allowed two or fewer goals in each of those nine wins. His biggest save on Monday came on a breakaway by Rangers right winger Martin St. Louis with 6:35 remaining in the second period.
“There were a couple chaotic shifts, but I thought Holtby, obviously, he was our best player,” Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “He pretty much held everything down for us.”
Lundqvist stopped 21 of 22 shots for the Rangers, who have had each of their last 10 playoff games decided by one goal.
Beagle’s goal, his first of these playoffs, came on a fluky play. After shooting wide left of the net, Beagle hunted down the puck, swung around the back of the net and saw his centering pass carom off the back of Lundqvist’s left skate and into the goal for his third career playoff goal.
“My goals are never how I draw them up,” Beagle said with a laugh. “It’s always just grinding it out and trying to create havoc in front and good things usually happen. Last series, I got robbed a couple times, so it was nice to be rewarded.”
It was also the first playoff goal for the Capitals’ third line of right winger Troy Brouwer, rookie left winger Andre Burakovsky and Beagle. Brouwer and Burakovsky earned assists on the play.
The Rangers staged a furious assault on Holtby in the third period with nine shots on goal and at least a half dozen more blocked by the Capitals. But Holtby calmly withstood the flurry and emerged with the 15th playoff victory of his career.
“It was a little crazy,” Holtby said. “But I thought we did a great job of controlling our game plan and taking (two) icings when we didn’t have plays.
“The guys played really good in front of me.”
“It’s a loss, that’s what hurts right now,” the Rangers’ Lundqvist said. “It’s disappointing. They’re a good team, they battle hard and they rely on skill when they have to.”
Even though they were outshot 117, the Capitals dominated much of the opening period. But they failed on a pair of power plays, and the two teams entered the first intermission scoreless.
The Capitals finally broke through in the second period when Beagle banked one off his skate for what proved to be the game-winner.