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Morning Skate: The Capitals’ patience with Braden Holtby is paying off in spades
Good morning, hockey friends.
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Lace ‘em up. Time for the Morning Skate.
★★★
Remember when Braden Holtby was battling guys like Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth for the starting netminder job in Washington?
Yeah. Neither do I. Holtby's rise as one of the NHL's elite goalies the last few seasons kind of makes those early years of dogfights difficult to recall. It's easy to forget that at one point the Capitals had no idea who their franchise goalie was going to be, especially when you watch what Holtby did on Monday in Buffalo.
It was Holtby at his best: calm, collected and absolutely impenetrable. Leading the league in wins (23), save percentage (.935) and goals against average (1.85), Holtby is on the fast track to win the Vezina Trophy.
The Capitals should be lauded for how they’ve developed Holtby. They drafted three bonafide NHL starters in Holtby, Varlamov and Neuvirth and let them loose for years in competition until Holtby emerged victorious. Few organizations would’ve had that kind of patience, and it’s only fair they’re reaping rewards now.
- Oh, and Holtby threw down a save of the year candidate to boot.
- Florida's lead in the Atlantic lasted less than 24 hours.
- Their usurpers were the Canadiens, who picked up a goalie on Monday that could pay serious dividends for them.
- Scrivens was traded for Zack Kassian, who our Oilers blog is calling a "low-risk reclamation project". So that's optimistic, then.
- Oh, you wanted scores? HAVE SOME SCORES:
Capitals 2, Sabres 0
Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (SO)
Predators 5, Rangers 3
Wild 3, Red Wings 1
Kings 5, Canucks 0
Avalanche 6, Sharks 3
- The Lightning have plenty of problems without worrying about Steven Stamkos' contract situation. But it's clear that Tampa's salary cap situation will be perilous if they re-sign him.
- Mike Fisher is still important to the Nashville Predators.
- The Hurricanes have won six of their last 10.
- It's official: women's pro hockey is coming to the Winter Classic!
- Here's five reasons Evgeny Kuznetsov is your new favorite player.
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