WASHINGTON, DC – Braden Holtby made 30 saves for the Washington Capitals in a 1-0 shutout against the New York Rangers in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Verizon Center in Washington. The Capitals now have a 2-1 series lead after returning home from Madison Square Garden with a split.
“I could sit here all day and tell you things about [Braden] Holtby, how good he is, how good he’s been for us. Tonight was no different. He made the saves that we needed him to make. We hung him out to dry a few times with the breakaway against [Rangers forward Martin] St. Louis who is a hell of a player, and he was able to come up with a 
timely stop. A few other saves, those scrambles in front in the third period. He does a good job of battling for position, battling for pucks. He always seems to be in the right spot when we need him,” said Washington forward Troy Brouwer.
“It’s going to be such a tight-checking series, playing these two teams here. Whoever has the lead, they’re defending well. That’s been the story every game for the team that’s won. We just have to find a way to maybe get the lead and get a couple early so they’ve got to play some offense. They’re defending really well so you’ve got to give props to them there,” said New York defenseman Dan Girardi.
Jay Beagle’s goal at 7:31 of the second period was the only score of the game. After they banked the puck off the boards in a dump-in, Brouwer and Andre Burakovsky gained possession on the Capitals forecheck. Burakovsky fed Beagle in front of Henrik Lundqvist’s net. His initial shot was wide and saved, but Beagle collected the rebound, went around the back of the net and backhanded his shot off Keith Yandle’s stick and skate and Lundqvist’s skate.
“Keith [Yandle] goes down and it hits him on the leg. Before you know it, it’s in the net. It hit him, it hit me and it went in. Obviously it’s going to be tough when it happens but it’s one of those plays that might happen in a game like this. It’s kind of hard for both teams to create big chances. So it’s just something we’ll have to talk about, get in front more and create better chances,” said Lundqvist.
“I kind of said that, we’re going to need some new heroes every night, it’s going to be someone different for us, that’s how we have to get it done. That line has been buzzing and had some chances and some looks and [the puck] hasn’t gone in, [but] the harder you work, the luckier you get, and that line was really working hard. I thought that whole line, [Troy] Brouwer, [Jay] Beagle, [Andre] Burakovsky had a lot of jump, and they were really committed to getting pucks to the net and keeping things alive, and that’s how the goal happened. They kept a shoot-to-create type of thing when things were bouncing around, and when you throw the puck at the net good things can happen, and it did,” said Washington head coach Barry Trotz.
The best shot the Rangers had all night was the Martin St. Louis breakaway in the second period Brouwer alluded to. St. Louis blocked John Carlson’s point shot and was off to the races, although a hustling Brooks Orpik closed down enough of St. Louis’s path to make Holtby’s save easier.
The Rangers mounted a furious rally chasing an equalizer, but their best chance in the waning minutes by Rick Nash was stopped by Holtby with an extra attacker on for Lundqvist.
The Capitals went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. They are now 21-for-22 in the postseason, with the only power play goal given up to the Rangers in Game 2.
Lundqvist made 22 saves on 23 shots for the Rangers on the losing end of a goaltenders duel. He stopped Alex Ovechkin several times and kept him off the scoresheet only to be done in by the Capitals checking line.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that we didn’t get a better result. We thought our overall game other than faceoffs and getting a couple great opportunities through was real good. But, we need to give credit where credit is due. [The Capitals’] centermen right now are doing a real good job on faceoffs, their whole team is making defensive plays making it real tough for us to get some of our great opportunities to the net,” said New York head coach Alain Vigneault.
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