Braden Holtby of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan made a save for the ages on Wednesday in the latter stages of game two of the Stanley Cup Finals. With just less than two minutes remaining in the third period, Holtby made an incredible stick save off of Golden Knights’ forward Alex Tuch to preserve the one goal Washington win.
Holtby also had the remarkable skill set to prevent a rebound and cover the puck with his glove. It has been considered as one of the greatest saves in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals. To see a replay of the save, please click here. The Capitals beat the Golden Knights 3-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to tie their best out of seven series at one game apiece.
A major reason why the Capitals are in their first Stanley Cup Final since 1998 is because of the play of Holtby, who has a Saskatchewan and Alberta flag on his goalie mask as Lloydminster is split between the two western Canadian provinces. At the beginning of the postseason, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz decided to start Philipp Grubauer in net against the Columbus Blue Jackets. However after Grubauer struggled to begin the Capitals’ first round playoff series, Trotz made the switch to Holtby in game two and the Canadian netminder has been in between the Washington pipes ever since.
In 20 postseason games for Washington in 2018, Holtby has a record of 13-7 with a 2.19 goals against average, .921 save percentage and two shutouts. The series now shifts to Washington for game three slated for Saturday night.
