Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Braden Holtby Leads Way in Caps Win

Prior to last evening's contest against the Washington Capitals, the Carolina Hurricanes were one of 11 NHL teams that were undefeated when leading after two periods. That number is down to 10, following the Canes' 2-1 loss to the red-hot Capitals,

Carolina was 21-0 when leading after 40 minutes and playing more than well enough to win. Leading 1-0 on a late second period goal by Tuomo Ruutu, they had the momentum heading into the last period.

They were outshooting the Caps 25-19 and carrying the play to Washington for much of the first two sessions. However, like many of the games in Washington's now seven-game winning streak, the Caps would score enough timely goals in the third period and hold on with great goaltending to win.

During the Caps current seven game winning streak, they have been either trailing or tied headed into the third period. Eleven of their last 13 victories have come by just one goal.

Washington's starting goaltender Braden Holtby was simply sensational. Holtby who was coming off his first NHL shutout on Thursday, made 40 saves to collect his third win a row with Washington.

The late second period marker by Ruutu was the first goal allowed by Holtby in 146-minutes and 9- seconds.

The Caps' 21-year-old net minder has now stopped 173 of the last 177 shots he has faced. In his last six starts he is undefeated going 5-0-1 with an astounding .977 save percentage. In nine starts spanning three call-ups from the AHL Hershey Bears this season, Holtby is 7-2-2 with a 1.84 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.

Holtby gives you a different vibe when you watch him play. Not to take anything away from the Caps' other young net minders, Michael Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov, Holtby seems more confident and more in control of the game.

He takes a few too many chances out of the crease but he handles the puck with Ron Hextall-like prowess. Unlike Neuvirth and Varlamov, who flop and tend to play more of a butterfly-hybrid style, Holtby stands up and challenges the shooters, cutting down angles.

Holtby always seems to be square to the shooter. With Neuvy and Varlamov, you expect them to surrender at least one soft goal per game, but not Holtby. I do not get that feeling that Holtby is going to let that "bad one" slip through and neither do his teammates.

Washington has had many 2-on-1 odd man rushes in the last three games, a sign they are willing to take more chances. Taking more chances means a team is confident that their goalie has their back should taking that chance backfire.

Holtby would have to wait until the third period until his teammates could reward his effort but not long into the final stanza. Captain Alex Ovechkin fired a powerful classic Ovechkin high slot wrist shot past Canes goalie, Cam Ward 47 seconds into the third period.

Filling in on the top-line for the injured Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson set the play up perfectly for the Great 8. Johansson cut into the offensive zone and left a drop pass for his prized first line forward, Johansson then cut back in front of him clearing the shooting lane.

The shot seemed to launch off the stick of a Canes defenseman, adding even more velocity to the already powerful wrister. The goal was Ovechkin's 28th of the season and extended his point scoring streak to the same number of wins in the Caps current win streak, seven.

Ovechkin seems to be hitting his stride in the past 15 games. He is playing lighter on his feet and does not seem to be pressing as he was earlier this season. He has gone back to what used to work for him. Instead of trying to do too much once he has the puck, he seems content to let puck fly almost immediatly.

When he needs to make a move or two, his intial burt of speed seems to have returned. He has seven goals and 17 points in the past 12 games.

Washington's new acquisitions, especially Jason Arnott, seem to be contributing on a nightly basis and last night's game against the Canes was no exception. Matt Hendricks would score his second game winning goal of the season against the Carolina when would put back a rebound off a failed breakaway attempt by Arnott.

Arnott had just come out of the penalty box and collected a loose puck from a shot that Matt Hendricks blocked and went off on a breakaway. Arnott made a nice move by deeking Cam Ward but Ward recovered to make and unbelievable pad save. Canes defenders Jay Harrison and Tim Gleason failed to pick up Matt Hendricks, who was trailing the play.

Hendricks, who signed a contract after a try-out in training camp this year, lifted the puck over the outstretched Ward for the eventual game winner. Hendricks speaking to the media following the win said, "If there was going to be a rebound, I wanted to be the one to get it, I just wanted to try to get it over his pad.”

The Capitals would hold on to win but for the second straight game survived the scare of a disallowed goal. This one caused when a referee blew his whistle way to soon, as he thought Caps goalie Braden Holtby had covered a shot by Corey Stillman. He didn't as Jay Harrison lifted the puck into the net but the whistle had blown.

"There's no explanation for that," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "He had his whistle in his mouth before the puck even got close to his glove. ... It's pretty costly."

The Canes were constant with their pressure in the Caps zone, so lopsided in fact, the Canes appeared to be on the power play for a few stretches during the final 10 minutes.

Washington killed off two third period penalties, including a late high sticking call against Matt Bradley. Holtby made 16 saves in the final 20 minutes but many of the Canes shots never made it to the net.

The Caps blocked 10 Carolina third period shots before they got to Holtby. Caps defenseman John Carlson led the way with five blocked shots last evening as the Caps managed 26 for the game.

Washington's good fortune carried over even after the game concluded. The Tampa Bay lightning somehow managed to lose to the Ottawa Senators in Tampa last evening. Ottawa is the 15th and last ranked team in the eastern conference.

The Caps now lead the Bolts by four points in the southeast division. Tampa has 14 games remaining compared to 13 for Washington. The formula of timely goal scoring, great goaltending, solid defense and good fortune continued for Washington and the lucky aspect of last night's win did not escape their head coach.

Following the game Bruce Boudreau said, "I thought we were a little lucky tonight and they are overdue to beat us.”

“I didn’t think we were very sharp,” Boudreau said. “They had 40 shots on goal. They were carrying the play; they were beating us to the puck. We made the plays in the third period that we needed to win, and that was it. I think they are probably pretty frustrated right now.”

Back in December, "Murphy's law", which states everything that can go wrong will, spread like a runny nose in a pre-school throughout the Caps dressing room and into their play on the ice. HBO was in town and the Caps were losing on a regular basis. They lost eight games in a row and many (myself included) were calling for Bruce Boudreau's head.

These days it is the opposite of Murphys law, Yhprum's Law (look it up if you do not believe me), which states everything that can work, will work. While that may not be entirely accurate about the Caps, they do have the look of a team that has enough working to scare a lot of potential first round playoff opponents.