Hot Holtby shuts Down Hobbled Bolts

By on December 13, 2015

Just sixteen days ago the Lightning lost to the Washington Capitals 4-2.  Saturday night at the “Oil Can” would be the sequel and it was a fast paced,  hard hitting one.  A game that left Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, “Speechless.”  And if you are a Lightning fan not for the reasons you would hope.   Facing one of the top and hottest teams in the Eastern Conference while hampered by injuries and then facing an on fire goalie may not end well.

 Alex Killorn and the Lightning ran into a hotby, Braden Holtby (photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Alex Killorn and the Tampa Bay Lightning ran into a hotby, Braden Holtby.                             (photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

The Caps jump on the Lightning early. The Capitals open scoring at 2:09 with #83 Jay Beagle, assist to #49 Stanislav Galiev.

It was very physical and fast in the first as the Caps work with the 1-0 lead.

At 13:41 #8 Alex Ovechkin gets a scoring chance and the Washington captain is stoned by Ben Bishop.  The “Bish” keeps the Lightning within one.

The Lightning draw a penalty with three seconds left in the first.  This will be a great way to start the second period with 1:57 of power play time remaining. End of the first period shot count Lightning 11,  Capitals 9.  The score 1-0 Capitals.

The second period starts with the Capitals winning the draw and killing off penalty time. This is a microcosm of the Lightning on the man advantage and it would be a bust of a power play.   Followed by another bust of a power play.

Netminder #70 Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals is standing strong at 9:14 into the second period stopping 19 Lightning shots.

At 11:16 in the second, #92 Evgeny Kuznetsov, wraps around the Lightning goal to slip one behind Big Ben Bishop as he slid his pad forward and created a gap. Score Capitals 2, Lightning 0.

The Caps are hot coming in so there was quite a sea of red in the “Oil Can.”  The Capital City brought some fans, and they are making some noise.  

And there was more noise on the at 14:55.   J.T Brown and #88 Nate Schmidt square up behind the Capitals net and J.T. gets the best of Schmidt.  This was a sample of the Lightning and their scrappy play.  I mean really,  38 blocked shots and 29 hits to go along with the beat down by J.T. Brown you would think this should be a win.   

At the end of the second period score is 2-0 Capitals.

Third period opens up with the Lightning putting Holtby to the test, he gives up a rebound, but once again stands strong making two great saves.

At 4:36 in the third period the Lightning will have a one man advantage with a minor tripping penalty called on #92 Evgeny Kuznetsov. It’s a Teco Energy power play!

The Bolts are buzzing, looking good but once again, unable to get anything by this Holtby wall!  

At 7:33 in the third Washington defenseman #2, Matt Niskanen commits a minor tripping penalty, sending the Lightning on another power play. And finally a score! Lighting power play goal by #86 Nikita Kucherov is a beautiful wrist shot and Kucherov’s eleventh goal of the season. Assists by #6 Anton Stralman and #91 Captain Steven Stamkos. Now with score Capitals 2, Lightning 1 the game is set up to be a great finish.

As the Lightning pressed, Holtby stayed on top of the game.  He had 35 saves, 14 of them in the third period when the Lightning brought most heat.  The Washington players appreciate Holtby, by the way was an easy pick for the number one star.   “I feel like a broken record talking about him all the time. He performs every single night. He’s there for us. It’s great that he’s on our team,” said Caps defenseman John Carlson.

The injury issues continue to compound the Lightning.  Jon Cooper said, “It’s always tough when you go into a game, finally the team is nursing themselves back to health and five minutes into the game, well you lose a guy in warm ups then you lose another five minutes into the game.  I’m speechless at how this is going.”

Despite a valiant effort by the Tampa Bay Lightning they ran into a hot goaltender, Braden Holtby was on fire tonight, and the Capitals notch 2 points here in Tampa Bay.

 WASHINGTON CAPITALS SKATERS

NO. PLAYER POS G A P +/- PIM S HITS BKS GVA TKA FO% PP TOI SH TOI TOI
2 M. Niskanen D 0 0 0 0 4 2 3 5 0 0 1:39 1:34 24:28
4 T. Chorney D 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0:00 1:31 11:33
8 A. Ovechkin L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 2:50 0:04 19:18
9 D. Orlov D 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 0 0:12 0:04 10:58
14 J. Williams R 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1:51 0:56 17:43
19 N. Backstrom C 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 42% 2:14 0:33 18:20
21 B. Laich C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29% 0:00 2:52 8:40
25 J. Chimera L 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1:33 1:14 14:03
27 K. Alzner D 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 0 0 0:00 3:54 24:05
43 T. Wilson R 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0:00 1:57 8:50
49 S. Galiev R 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0:44 0:00 11:22
65 A. Burakovsky L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0:00 0:00 7:48
74 J. Carlson D 0 1 1 1 0 4 2 3 0 0 2:21 2:34 23:40
77 T. Oshie R 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 0 0 0 33% 2:09 2:36 19:37
83 J. Beagle R 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 67% 0:00 2:56 14:07
88 N. Schmidt D 0 0 0 1 5 1 3 3 1 1 0:20 3:23 21:20
90 M. Johansson L 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2:27 0:00 18:31
92 E. Kuznetsov C 1 0 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 1 38% 1:46 0:00 19:12
NO. PLAYER EV PP SH SAVES – SHOTS SV% PIM TOI
70 B. Holtby (W) 18-4-1 31 – 31 4 – 5 0 – 0 35 – 36 .972 0 59:53

NO. PLAYER POS G A P +/- PIM S HITS BKS GVA TKA FO% PP TOI SH TOI TOI
5 J. Garrison D 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0:00 0:34 14:41
6 A. Stralman D 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4:50 2:06 24:43
11 B. Boyle C 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 58% 0:00 1:50 13:43
17 A. Killorn C 0 0 0 -1 0 6 0 0 0 0 33% 3:25 0:20 17:03
18 O. Palat L 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0:00 0:00 3:34
23 J. Brown R 0 0 0 -1 5 3 2 1 0 0 100% 0:00 1:36 18:39
24 R. Callahan R 0 0 0 -1 0 4 4 1 0 0 100% 0:59 2:12 21:38
25 M. Carle D 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0:00 0:22 9:13
42 J. Marchessault C 0 0 0 -1 0 4 3 0 0 0 60% 5:30 0:00 15:05
46 M. Blunden R 0 0 0 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 0:00 0:00 6:48
51 V. Filppula C 0 0 0 -1 2 4 1 0 0 1 67% 1:28 1:22 21:21
55 B. Coburn D 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0:00 1:45 13:23
62 A. Sustr D 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0:00 1:32 12:57
77 V. Hedman D 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 2 1 0 1:16 1:41 26:25
86 N. Kucherov R 1 0 1 0 0 4 3 0 1 0 5:07 0:00 21:54
89 N. Nesterov D 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0:59 0:00 12:26
90 V. Namestnikov C 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 1 0 0 17% 3:30 0:00 18:19
91 S. Stamkos C 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 45% 5:36 0:40 25:18
NO. PLAYER EV PP SH SAVES – SHOTS SV% PIM TOI
30 B. Bishop (L) 12-9-2 14 – 16 3 – 3 1 – 1 18 – 20 .900 0 58:50
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