Photo: Rob Carr
Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby is stopping pucks this postseason at a rate of 98.4 percent. On the other side of the ice, Philadelphia Flyers goalie Steve Mason is saving just 88.9 percent of shots on net. In Game Two of the first round on Saturday, Holtby turned aside all but one of Philly’s 42 shots. Despite the Capitals getting heavily outplayed at even-strength, they won 4-1.
Here’s a medley of his saves from Game Two.
“Throw 42 shots at the net, got one goal,” Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds said after the game. “Obviously Holtby’s doing a great job.”
So far, Holtby has stopped 60 of 61 Flyers shots this postseason. Now playing in his sixth playoff series, Holtby has a career postseason save percentage of .938 and a goals against average of 1.84. Of all active goalies who have played in at least 20 playoff games, no one has better numbers in those categories.
“He’s unbelievable,” Marcus Johansson said of Holtby. “He’s making saves all over the place and sometimes you’re just shocked when he gets to stop the puck. He’s so good. He’s such an unbelievable goalie for us.”
According to Craig Laughlin, the Flyers bench was already up ready to cheer. Then Holtby made the save.
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