Recently-benched starter Braden Holtby is suffering through one of the most challenging stretches of his career, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a superstar teammate.
After the Capitals 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks — Washington’s first rego win in San Jose in over 25 years — Holtby was potentially the most excited player on the ice.
In fact, Holtby was so happy he appears to have kissed Philipp Grubauer on the helmet. The blanking marked Grubauer’s second shutout of the season and Holtby was geeking out.
xoxo 😘#HockeyHugs #HockeyKisses #CapsSharks #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/KQM0mNtYbA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 11, 2018
That is fantastic. Holtby is not feeling sorry for himself at all. I’m a fan of John Carlson’s hockey noogie as well.
Andre Burakovsky also showed some love to his new line-mate on the second line Brett Connolly as he left the ice.
Grubauer, who has started the Capitals last two games, has been on an absolute tear since October.
Philipp Grubauer stopped all 24 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. Grubauer has stopped 554 of the last 590 shots he's faced (.939 save percentage), the highest save percentage since Oct. 29 among goalies with at least 16 appearances.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 10, 2018
According to the Capitals PR, Grubauer has stopped the last 132 of 137 shots he’s faced for a .964 save percentage.
