Holtby much more than ‘the save’

ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington captain Alex Ovechkin covered his eyes with his gloved hands in disbelief. His coach, Barry Trotz, hid his disbelief inside.

Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson had the perfect view and didn’t like the odds. The net was wide open for Vegas forward Alex Tuch to shoot at as the Golden Knights scrambled to try to tie Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday.

“I thought, ‘Oh, no, no, no,’ ” Stephenson said. “And then his paddle was there and he made the save and I just couldn’t believe it.”

“He” was Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, whose dive across the crease to make a stick save might go down as one of the most important moments in Stanley Cup history. Holtby’s effort preserved a 3-2 victory, allowing the Capitals to even the Finals against the Golden Knights at 1-1.

Most of the buzz going into the Cup Finals surrounded Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who already has two championship rings. But Holtby stole the show in making 37 saves in Game 2 and returned to his career-long playoff dominance after allowing five goals on 33 shots in Game 1.

“The guy’s just a machine,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said. “Boy, has he been good. Making the saves that he’s supposed to make look really routine and he’s made some gamechangers — none better than the one with a couple minutes left in Game 2.”

Holtby said he believes “there’s a lot more saves that I’ve made even these two games that I like a lot more than that one.”

From the other end of the rink, Fleury — who has allowed seven goals in the series and not been nearly as unbeatable as he was in the first three rounds — can admire Holtby’s play even if he doesn’t like it.

“I think it’s an awesome save,” Fleury said. “I don’t appreciate it, though. I’d rather it be a goal.”

Since Holtby made his NHL playoff debut as a rookie in 2012, the 2016 Vezina Trophy winner has a 2.04 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in the postseason — fourth- and second-best, respectively, all-time among goalies with at least 50 games of experience.

In these playoffs, he’s 13-7 with a 2.19 GAA and .921 save percentage since replacing Philipp Grubauer in Game 2 of the first round.

“Thank God he’s our goalie,” Ovechkin said. “He’s over there when we need him.”