Holtby, Caps know Game 1 fireworks are not the norm

LAS VEGAS — After 60 minutes of hockey and 10 eye-popping goals, the Capitals skated off the ice and in short order, Elvis, too, had left the building. So did his pal, Elvis, and his other friend Elvis and the whole crew of Elvis impersonators who watched Monday’s drama-filled Game 1 from the first two rows in section 6.

The opening scene of these Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night was certainly surreal from just about every angle possible, perhaps none as surprising as the one seen from inside Braden Holtby’s mask. The Golden Knights’ 6-4 victory was a spectacle — with its elaborate pregame show and midgame performances by Gladys Knight and Lee Greenwood — and a goal-scoring clinic put on by the Vegas fourth line.

‘What was that?’ was a common refrain from Caps’ fans, a concern that carries added weight as the Caps — and particularly Holtby — regroup for Wednesday’s Game 2 back at T-Mobile Arena.

Holtby and the Caps’ defensive units put together their worst showing of the playoffs, giving up four evenstrength goals, a power-play score and a late empty-netter. Holtby hadn’t allowed more than four goals in a game since Feb. 17. Back then, he was in the midst of a midseason slump that saw the Caps drop six straight with Holtby in net. But Holtby looked like a different player in May, calmer and more composed, and he entered Monday’s game coming off back-to-back shutouts to close out Tampa Bay.

And then Vegas hung five on him. What was that?

“Obviously it wasn’t the outcome or quite the type of game we wanted to play,” Holtby said. “But it’s Game 1. There’s some things we know we can easily adjust to have more success. It’s one of those games. ... For us, we can’t give up five goals and expect to have success.”

Holtby has a day to process the weirdness, the struggles and successes, to find lessons he can apply to produce a better result on Wednesday.

“Both teams are going to improve. We believe there’s areas we can improve a lot more than them,” Holtby said. “That’s our belief in ourselves. I think you’re going to see a cleaner hockey game. I think that was probably exciting for the fans, but not exactly a clean hockey game for either side.”

What was that? The Caps have less than 48 hours to figure it out.

“I think as a whole we can play a lot better,” coach Barry Trotz said. “That’s exciting to me. I know we have another level in our game.”

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