Holtby has little luck in surprise start in net
Just 24 hours earlier, Braden Holtby was in his goal crease for Hershey of the American Hockey League, where he has spent all season honing his game at the minor league level.
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No reason to think that was going to change for the 22-year-old on Monday. Capitals starting goalie Tomas Vokoun was ill with the flu, but Michal Neuvirth, the backup all season, was ready to go. He said as much during the morning skate before the game against the San Jose Sharks.
Yet when the contest started, it was Holtby making his NHL season debut. The switch didn’t help. A first-period shot from beyond the red line was tipped home by Sharks forward Joe Pavelski from 69 feet away, an ominous start to an eventual 5-3 loss at Verizon Center.
For the third time in seven games, Washington allowed a goal from outside the offensive zone. It happened to Neuvirth on Feb. 1 at Florida, to Vokoun on Feb. 9 against Winnipeg and to Holtby on Monday. Just after a San Jose power play expired midway through the first period, defenseman Dan Boyle fired a shot from just outside the red line. Pavelski tipped the dipping puck and sent it toward Holtby. It then took a wicked bounce, and Holtby couldn’t get his glove up in time to catch it on the fly. Instead it deflected in for a 1-0 lead.
“I thought I reacted fairly well to it. It just hit me in a weird spot in my glove and popped over,” Holtby said. “I would have probably liked to have been out a little further, but at that point I’m trying to make sure I’m in the right position in case he rims it [around the boards], too.”
Pavelski made it 2-0 at 3:26 of the second period when teammate Logan Couture drove the left circle and fired a shot off Holtby’s pads. Pavelski was all alone for the rebound goal. Later in the second, Pavelski’s point shot on another power play caught Holtby in the shoulder. Patrick Marleau made sure to bat the puck home for a 3-0 lead.
The air had gone out of the sellout crowd at Verizon Center. It took one final strong shift from the Caps late in the second period to revive them. Washington kept the puck in the offensive zone for the final 1:49 of the period. Finally — with the entire crowd screaming “Shoot!” — defenseman Dmitry Orlov ripped a point shot that hit goalie Thomas Greiss (39 saves) and trickled in with 0.8 seconds left.
But the momentum wouldn’t last. At 4:36 of the third period, a point shot by defenseman Brent Burns made its way through multiple screens in front of Holtby and found the left corner of the net. Marleau added another at 7:03, and San Jose was in complete control at 5-1. Defensemen Roman Hamrlik and Jeff Schultz added goals for the Caps in the back half of the third period, but it was far too late.
