After the New York Rangers scored their fourth goal on Tuesday night against the Capitals, the numbers on the Madison Square Garden video board were glaring. Four goals on 10 shots — not exactly the performance the Capitals have come to expect from goaltender Braden Holtby.
And while it was far from Holtby’s best performance of the season, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, either. The Capitals often hung him out to dry, with the team occasionally too aggressive, which led to the opportunistic Rangers coming back at Holtby with plenty of space.
“You look up at the shots at one point, if you weren’t watching the game, you’d think Holts had a bad night,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said.