You guys, Braden Holtby ventured out of his crease and went on another blue line adventure.
The Holtbeast played a dangerous game of hockey chicken with Sabres forward Rasmus Ristolainen for a loose puck. Somehow he won.
You have to see the highlights.
Video
After ripping off a Dmitry Orlov pass in the offensive zone, Ristolainen tapped the puck ahead of himself for a breakaway. But Ristolainen put too much mustard on the puck.
That gave Holtby just enough time to race out of his den and come seemingly out of nowhere to sweep the puck away.
This is epic.
And now here’s Braden sliding straight into your living room.
Holtby then had to make a poke check to stop Conor Sheary from shooting at the yawning net. Holtby’s second sweep deflected the puck out of play. He was credited with a blocked shot by the statistician.
Despite being 66 feet away from the net, Holtby protected his net just fine.
“It’s a read in that situation. An aggressive read,” head coach Todd Reirden said after the game. “The second effort was the really impressive thing. To have the wherewithal to swipe [the puck] with his stick.”
“That was old school there coming out of the net,” Tom Wilson said. “He’s unbelievable.”
Tom Wilson on Braden Holtby's kamikaze slide out to the blue line: "That was old school there coming out of the net. He's unbelievable. A leader on and off the ice and our backbone every night." pic.twitter.com/MXV95nvjAe
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 22, 2018
On the evening, Holtby made 36 saves. He’s won eight of his last 11 starts.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Sabres
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
