The Washington Capitals beat the Dallas Stars for the first time since 2008. A big part of why was Caps backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Grubi has won 9 of his 12 games (9-1-2) this season and has posted a sensational 92.5% save percentage and a 2.05 goals against average. And to be frank, Grubauer has the talent and ability to start on about half of the teams in the league if he weren’t in the Capitals organization.
On Saturday, Grubauer willed the Caps into overtime after making a game-saving stop with 10:30 left in the third period. Using his power and quickness, Grubi slid to the opposite side of the crease and stopped Tyler Seguin’s wrist shot with his blocker pad. It was stunning.
Video
At real speed, watch as Grubauer goes to the full splits and makes the save with his right wrist. Seguin’s reaction is priceless.
Oh? You want me to zoom-in and do slo-mo? Absolutely.
As the crowd begins to celebrate what they think is a layup, Seguin drops his stick and looks up in disbelief.
The other angles are even more sensational.
Despite having less standing points than last year at the same point, the President’s Trophy-winning Capitals are arguably better and more deep this year than last. Being able to spell Braden Holtby, the NHL’s reigning Vezina Tophy winner, with a more than capable backup, could make a difference in the team’s playoff performance as well.
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