Mon. March 26 Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers
Place: Madison Square Garden
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
NHL.COM
New York Rangers 74-33-34-8 Last Game: Mar 24 Won 5-1 Against Sabres
Washington Capitals 95-44-24-7 Last Game: Mar 24 Won 6-4 Against Canadiens
8-Ovechkin 92-Kuznetsov 43-Wilson
65-Burakovsky 19-Bäckström 77-Oshie
13-Vrana 20-Eller 10-Connolly
18-Stephenson 83-Beagle 39-Chiasson
6-Kempny 74-Carlson
9-Orlov 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik 28-Jerabek
31-Grubauer (starter)
70-Holtby
-- SCRATCH --
25-Smith-Pelly
63-Gersich
29-Djoos
-- INJURED RESERVE --
-- 1st Powerplay Unit --
77-Oshie 19-Bäckström 92-Kuznetsov
8-Ovechkin 74-Carlson
-- 2nd Powerplay Unit --
13-Vrana 20-Eller 65-Burakovsky
2-Niskanen 9-Orlov
Referees: Kevin Pollock (#33), Jake Brenk (#12)
Linesmen: Justin St. Pierre (#53), Michel Cormier (#76)
1st Period02:50 GOAL 77-Oshie, assists 19-Bäckström & 28-Jerabek 1-0 WSH
05:13 GOAL 2-Niskanen, assists 92-Kuznetsov & 8-Ovechkin 2-0 WSH
08:54 PP GOAL 8-Ovechkin, assists 74-Carlson & 19-Bäckström 3-0 WSH
16:39 SH GOAL92-Kuznetsov, assist 39-Chiasson 4-0 WSH
2nd Period13:16 Rags GOAL Andersson 4-1 WSH
3rd Period04:26 Rags GOAL Zuccarello 4-2 WSH
FINAL: 4-2 WSH
by Isabelle Khurshudyan March 26 at 1:41 PM
Braden Holtby progressing from injury, but Philipp Grubauer to make third straight start
Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby has started just four games this month. (Joel Auerbach/Associated Press)
NEW YORK — Goaltender Braden Holtby will be back in a Capitals uniform Monday night at Madison Square Garden. After an undisclosed lower-body injury made him a scratch for the past two games, he’s at least healthy enough to be Philipp Grubauer’s backup when Washington plays the New York Rangers.
“He’s healthy,” Coach Barry Trotz said Monday. “… We’ll practice tomorrow and see where he is for the next game, if he either goes in or we give him one more off.”
After Monday night, the Capitals have just six games left until the postseason, and Holtby has started just four games this month while Grubauer has been in net for eight contests. Trotz had intended to rotate Holtby and Grubauer for the final stretch of the regular season before Holtby got hurt last week, and while Trotz acknowledged he might make some changes to that rotation now that Holtby is healthy, Holtby now has just two weeks to prepare for the playoffs after he had a miserable February. Trotz has said his postseason starter will be the goaltender playing better at the time.
“He has a lot of games under his belt,” Trotz said. “I’m pretty sure he can pull it together. We’ll just take it one game at a time here and see where he is and our game and go from there.”
Said Holtby: “We’ve been making progress for a while now. You just continue on. I mean, I get a couple good practice days, a little extra work, and you know, still got a few games left here to keep improving and go into the playoffs on a good note.”
Holtby last played a week ago against Dallas, and he seemed to get injured on a collision with Stars forward Remi Elie in the third period. Holtby was slow to get up and then flexed his left knee several times. Holtby said he has dealt with this injury before, namely in the postseason two years ago when he hurt his knee late in Washington’s first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This season is poised to be the fewest games Holtby has played since 2013-14. Holtby went 2-5-2 with an .873 save percentage and a 4.62 goals against average in February, then was pulled for a third time in six starts against Anaheim this month. He didn’t start for more than a week after that, which Trotz said was a “reset” for the 2015-16 Vezina Trophy winner to work on his game. Holtby then got back in net for two games, winning both while allowing three goals in each. Then this injury came at an unfortunate time, disrupting what seemed to be positive momentum.
“It’s better timing than before,” Holtby said, referencing the 2016 playoffs. “It’s an opportunity where you get to let it heal and make sure you don’t aggravate it more. We’ve been winning games in that span, so that’s a good thing.”
