You may have heard some rumblings from our nation's capital on Sunday night. No, it had nothing to do with the presidential debates, but instead a more important position to the sports world of Washington.
NHL scores 2016: Capitals outlast Braden Holtby scare, best Rangers 5-2
Justin Williams and his hat trick led Washington over New York, but not without a few heart attacks along the way.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
When news that Braden Holtby had taken himself out of the game after 37 minutes of play, you could probably hear the woosh of Capitals fans putting 911 on speed dial, whether for themselves or for their netminder whose symptoms were unknown. A half hour later, the diagnosis came down: dehydration.
And cue the exhale for Washington.
This isn't Holtby's first go-around with dehydration, and hopefully it will be the last for the workhorse netminder. Losing Holtby to an injury, even dehydration, would be a blow the Capitals cannot afford when their backup is Philipp Grubauer.
But, problem solved, as Holtby is expected to be fine with Washington on a break until Tuesday night.
As for the remainder of Sunday's game against the Rangers, Justin Williams took care of that. This is what the Capitals brought Williams in from Los Angeles for, to be clutch. I'd say three goals in the final half of the game, including the game-winner in his second career hat trick, definitely applies for the clutch label.
Scores
Vancouver Canucks 2, New York Islanders 1 (SO)
Washington Capitals 5, New York Rangers 2
Philadelphia Flyers 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (SO)
3 things we learned
1. Eddie Lack lackluster in five-goal night to dangerous Pittsburgh
Carolina and Pittsburgh is already a mismatch to begin with, but add in Metropolitan Division newbie goaltender Eddie Lack to the mix and things got out of hand rather quickly. Lack saved five shots on 32 attempts and Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan must have really read his team the book on the former Canucks netminder, as four of the five goals all went to the blocker side. Trust me on this, you aren't missing much more if you just watch this one clip.
2. Lightning win the Battle of Florida in a flash
Boy, my #LuongoForVezina campaign might have been a bit premature. As the Panthers have come down, so has Roberto Luongo, who despite going 29-for-31, was out of sorts in the 3-1 loss to the Lightning. Many predicted Luongo's time would come, and fast, as the netminder has no right within the laws of human nature to put up above a .930 save percentage at the age of 36. Sorry, Lu.
3. Chicago ties franchise record with 11th straight win
Not much else needs to be said about the streaking Blackhawks. Like the Panthers before them, they're firing on all cylinders and getting excellent goaltending. Corey Crawford backstopped the Blackhawks with just two goals allowed on 29 shots while the stars carried the offensive load for Chicago in the 5-2 victory.
Patrick Kane has 29 goals on the year, one shy of tying his career high set in the 2009-10 season. #Blackhawks
— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) January 18, 2016 Impact Moment
Ryan White might be facing supplemental discipline on this hit that rocked Tomas Jurco just two and a half minutes into their contest. It's a clear high hit to the head of Jurco and White was given an immediate match penalty. He spent the rest of the game watching from the locker room.
another angle pic.twitter.com/On7T5tHoa8
— Stephanie (@myregularface) January 18, 2016 Stat of the Night
.@washcaps' 12-game home winning streak is the longest such streak in the NHL this season. Per @EliasSports: pic.twitter.com/YYL4u4xtuT
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 18, 2016 See More:
