Home / News / Braden Holtby gets milestone puck for Pheonix Copley as goaltender celebrates first NHL win

Braden Holtby gets milestone puck for Pheonix Copley as goaltender celebrates first NHL win

By Ian Oland

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October 27, 2018 7:50 pm

Capitals goaltender Pheonix Copley made 27 saves and stopped three of four shots in the shootout (Matthew Tkachuk, James Neal, and Johnny Gaudreau) to give Washington a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames. The victory marked Copley’s first NHL win.

The victory sent the 26-year-old backup goalie into a huge celebration; think a mite-on-ice celebrating as if he won the Stanley Cup. Copley skated towards the Capitals bench and received a massive 20-plus-player hockey hug from ecstatic teammates.

Braden Holtby skated the opposite way, but for good reason.

Video

Holtby flagged down the official so that he could get the milestone first-win puck for Copley.

Check out this intensity.

After Copley was done getting congratulations, Holtby made the puck presentation. Now the North Pole, Alaska-native can keep it forever. Copley put the puck down in his glove and looked down at it in happiness.

Copley later would take a photo with the momento in the locker room. This clearly meant a lot to him.

Nicklas Backstrom won the Capitals the game in the fourth round of the shootout, beating Mike Smith glove side. It was Backstrom’s 12th career game-winning shootout goal.

And now it’s time to celebrate.

Here’s another look at Copley as he watched Backstrom’s shot find the back of the twine.

Copley received hugs and head pats from Alex Ovechkin and Holtby.

Nicklas Backstrom eventually would hug and congratulate Copley too. Former teammate in Hershey, Madison Bowey, could not contain his excitement.

Bowey needed two hugs.

Copley downplayed the significance of the milestone after the game.

“It’s certainly nice to get the first win,” Copley said. “I’m excited for my next chance. Yeah.”

Copley’s first victory comes in only his fourth NHL start and fifth NHL game overall. Last season, Copley went 15-17 with a 89.6 save percentage last season in Hershey — his fourth full season in the AHL. Copley won the backup job in training camp in the fall over Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek after Philipp Grubauer was traded to the Colorado Avalanche over the offseason.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Flames

Headline photo: @Capitals

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