Washington Capitals are sticking with Braden Holtby as their starting goalie
Braden Holtby will be the Washington Capitals starting goalie as the postseason starts.
The Washington Capitals have a nice problem. They have two NHL caliber goalies in Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov. The latter had a terrific rookie season and is clearly the future in net. However, the former is the veteran of the two and helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018. According to Capitals head coach Todd Reirden, he’ll most likely stick with Holtby as the starter.
Holtby is coming off his worst full season in the NHL. In 47 games, he had a career-low .897% save percentage. Holtby also failed to win at least 30 games for the first time since the 2013-14 season, though the season’s hiatus obviously played in a role in that. On the season, he has a 25-14-6 record.
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Meanwhile, Samsonov posted a .913% save percentage in 26 games (22 starts). He was much better before the All-Star break, as he posted a .927% save percentage before it and has posted a .875% save percentage after it. On the season, Samsonov posted a 16-6-2 record, including a 10-2-1 record on the road.
Now, the Caps still have time to figure things out. They finished as one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, so they won’t be playing in the initial play-in round.
The Capitals could use the round-robin tournament that the top four teams will be playing in as an opportunity to give both goalies playing time and see who emerges as the best option.
However, given Holtby’s postseason resume, it’s hard to blame Reirden for sticking with his veteran. He has one of the highest postseason save percentages in NHL history.
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That said, Holtby will also probably have a short leash. Samsonov has proven to be a very capable goaltender and the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018 after making a switch in goal. Holtby stepped back in after initially losing his job to Philipp Grubauer.