Goaltender Braden Holtby carried his team to victory on Thursday night with a stunning 44 saves, the most in his career. The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 win that evened the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at two games each. Holtby, 22, said he wanted to make sure he had fun after he was propelled into the high-pressure, bright spotlight role of a starting goaltender in the Stanley Cup playoffs. On Thursday night, Holtby smothered shots and robbed a Bruins offense that had been so strong in the regular season.
“My type of fun is intensity, is big games, big moments. I might not show it on my face, but that’s the way I’ve always been. I’ve always had the most fun when I’m battling and competing,” Holtby said. The rookie’s performance was a perfect comeback from four goals he gave up in a Game 3 loss. With the support of his team, it was not a surprise that Holtby shined on Thursday night. Capitals player Karl Alzner said, “We think he’s going to be good like that every single game and he usually is. That just goes to show how good he is, how thick his skin is to bounce back after four goals last game and people saying that maybe the floodgates are open and obviously he did a good job. That’s a very veteran-like response, the way he played.” Back-to- back Games 5 and 6 will be this weekend.
