WASHINGTON -- In Holtbeast You Need To Trust.
Really.
Honest.
I know what you're thinking. Here we go again. The penultimate game on home ice, where the Washington Capitals have just two victories and nine losses in their Game 7, well, heresy might be more apropos than history.
The wound was first opened on April 18, 1987, in the most grueling, cruelest end to any sports season imaginable. Pat LaFontaine of the New York Islanders scored in the fourth overtime at Capital Centre in Landover -- an NHL-record, six-hour, 18-minute odyssey that ended at 1:58 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Easter Sunday.
Since then, the scab has been torn off regularly. Just look at the numbers:
Washington Capitals Game 7 History
16 Total Games
Overall: 5-11 .313 (Worst in NHL history)
Home Ice: 2-9 .222 (Brutal)
Overtime: 2-3 (Meh…)
Alex Ovechkin Era (2008-2018) : 4-7 .363 (Not Ideal)
Braden Holtby Era (2012-2018): 3-4 with a Playoff Save Pct. of 90+ (Holla!)
See, it's the last stat that really matters. The starting goaltender for the Capitals since roughly 2012 has backpacked this team time and again in the games that mattered most.
It's why the sense of palpable dread that Capitals fans have felt so many times the past decade and beyond about their team not emerging triumphant at home should be almost non-existent heading into Wednesday's Game 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes
(Yes, there are some Debbie Downers out there among you. Instead of being a nattering nabob of negativism, remember what happened last year.)
And it's completely understandable that some of that fear of your team's season being over has dissipated simply because, let's face it, all that curse talk turned out to be ridiculous the moment the grail was lifted in Las Vegas last June.
The reservoir of goodwill this team, particularly this group of players, has built up is deep and lasting. This isn't a case of the Capitals players taking for granted last year's run; this is the case of a team that did it last year, that knows it has a subtle confidence it will all work out again because of what they accomplished in seminal games last year.
And they won those games not just because Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetzov, Niklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and their Alpha Males took over offensively and made the dream possible; they won primarily because Holtby refused to budge in net with the season in the balance.
You know why the Caps were able to embark on a Cup run last year and not get derailed in the first round against Columbus, a team they trailed 2 games to 0 and were all but done if they lost Game 3 in Columbus? Holtby. Benched near the end of the season and replaced by Philipp Glubauer, Holtby got the job back at the end of a Game 2 loss. In his first start of the playoffs last season, after his confidence was rocked earlier in the spring, he stood on his head, saving 33 of 35 shots and stymieing the Blue Jackets until Washington won in double overtime, 3-2.
You know why the Tampa Bay Lightning could not close out the Caps with a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals? Holtby. It wasn't just Holtby stopping all 29 shots in Tampa in Game 7, won by the Caps 4-0; it was also what he did in Game 6 on home ice to keep them alive. He had 24 saves in a 3-0 victory that forced Game 7, his first shutout since April of 2017.
That's two shutouts in a little over 72 hours, the fourth and fifth shutouts of his playoff career. The only time he's fallen below .900 in save percentage in a Game 7 came against the Rangers in 2013.
Even in three of his four Game 7 losses, Holtby has been tremendous (2 goals on 28 attempts for a .929 percentage in 2017 against the Penguins, 2 goals on 39 attempts against the Rangers in 2015 and 2 goals on 31 attempts also against the Rangers in 2013.)
For all the euphoria over Joel Ward's overtime goal in Boston in 2012, the Capitals don't have the moment if Holtby doesn't stop all but one of 32 attempts in that Game 7.
And, finally, you know when the Stanley Cup Finals turned? Of course you do. It happened in Las Vegas, when Holtby used every inch of his frame, making himself Plastic Man in the moment, stealing a goal from the Knights' Alex Tuch in Game 2. The Caps never lost after that, winning the series in five games and igniting the greatest sports celebration in D.C. in three decades.
I get it. Nothing is as soul-siphoning and just downright depressing for a fan than seeing their team's season end in sudden death on their home ice. I still remember being in the building against the Flyers when this playoff run in the Ovechkin era began in 2008, the moment Philly's Joffrey Lupul had a wide-open look left of the net and Cristobal Huet, the Caps' goalie, had no idea where the puck was. Every person in the arena knew the Caps' season was done before Huet.
I also know nothing equals the absolute delirium in any sport than seeing your team win on home ice in Game 7. The moment Sergei Fedorov rifled a wrister past Henrik Lundqvist in 2009 in the final minutes of the third period is still indelible in the mind.
I don't think I had ever openly rooted for a team I was writing about like I did that night. Much of it was for pure selfish reasons. I had been working on a long profile about the personal life of Caps' enforcer Donald Brashear for a year. The Washington Post had decided the story needed a couple of key questions answered before it ran the following week.
Just one problem: the Caps fell behind 3 games to 1 and were suddenly up to their eyeballs in it, their season on the ledge. Had they lost that Game 7, that story probably would never have run; Brashear was traded that offseason to the Rangers.
Instead, they became the first team since 2004 to rally from a 3-1 deficit. If I ever see Fedorov again, I'm going to thank him because that story deserved to run.
Meantime, if they can pull this out, every Capitals fan should thank Holtby for bailing out their season yet again. Here's predicting he is nails in the net and the Stanley Cup champions move on to face their old coach, Barry Trotz, and a very old nemesis, the New York Islanders.
More good news: Pat LaFontaine, Mr. Quadruple Overtime, is retired.
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Washington Capitals Game 7 Playoff History
April 18, 1987- Division Semifinals against the NY Islanders. Caps lose in 40T. (3-2) (HOME)
April 16, 1988- Division semifinals, win against the Phil. Flyers (OT) (HOME)
April 30, 1988- Division finals, lose against the NJ Devils (HOME)
May 1, 1992- Division Semifinals, lost against the Penguins (HOME)
May 18, 1995- Conference Quarterfinals, lose againt the Penguins
April 22. 2008- Conference quarterfinals, lose against the Flyers (OT) (HOME)
April 28, 2009- Conference Quarterfinals, win against the NY Rangers
May 13, 2009- Conference Semifinals- lose against the Penguins (HOME)
April 28, 2010- Conference quarterfinals, lose against the Canadians (HOME)
* April 25, 2012- Conference quarterfinals, win against Boston Bruins (OT)
May 12, 2012- Conference semifinals, lose against NY Rangers
May 13, 2013- Conference quarterfinals, lost against NY rangers (HOME)
April 27 2015- Conference quarterfinals, win against the NY Islanders (HOME)
May 13, 2015-Conference semifinals, lose against the Rangers in OT
May 10, 2017- Conference semifinals, lost against Penguins (HOME)
May 23, 2018- Conference finals, win against Tampa Bay
