Midseason break revitalized Capitals goalie Braden Holtby

LAS VEGAS — When Braden Holtby took time off in February, playing in only nine of the Capitals’ 14 games, he finally had a chance to reflect on aspects of his game.

It might seem easy to say being benched in favor of Philipp Grubauer for the first two games of the postseason ignited Holtby’s standout playoff run. But he credits his midseason reprieve for a revival that pushed him and Washington into the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

“It was great to just have a break in February where I could really analyze myself in a game, go to work, get back to those roots and just working as hard as I possibly can to figure out different things of myself and the game,” Holtby said. “This year I think is one of those years where I’ve learned more and soaked in more knowledge than previous years.”

Holtby entered Monday night’s Game 1 with a 12-6 playoff mark, a 2.04 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. The Capitals haven’t allowed a goal in 159 minutes, 27 seconds, since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay — including 157:13 with Holtby on the ice.

Several key members of the Golden Knights are no strangers to Holtby, including general manager George McPhee, goalie coach Dave Prior and defenseman Nate Schmidt, who have been a part of the Capitals organization during their careers. Prior recommended that McPhee draft Holtby in 2008, when the Capitals made him the second pick of the fourth round (and the 10th goalie taken).

Prior has helped Vegas goalie and three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury improve aspects of his game this season. Holtby said that while Prior was with the Capitals, he taught him ways to analyze his game he never would have thought of.

“He’s one of the best, he helped me a ton,” Holtby said. “He taught me how to practice correctly, how to really analyze my game honestly and grow in different ways. Before, as a young kid, I just thought if you could just work as hard as you can, that’s how you get better. But there’s strategic ways and he was awesome, very calm, very unbiased watching games.”

Schmidt said a common comparison between Holtby and Fleury is easy to see.

“Both guys are very athletic,” Schmidt said. “That’s something I knew about Fleury a little bit, and it’s caused a lot of heartache to me over the years. You see that kind of thing with guys who are never out of a save. That’s what makes both of them special players.”

Holtby’s regular-season numbers (2.99 GAA, .907 save percentage) are career worsts. He said taking time to focus on things he never was able to do during a regular season has helped ease his mind.

“Throughout my career, you know that putting too much pressure on yourself and doing too much is never that good,” Holtby said. “And I got caught up trying to do too much, and it never works too well, and it ended up snowballing.”

Snowballing to the tune of allowing four or more goals in eight of the 16 games he played during January and February. But over his last eight regular-season appearances in March, he was 6-2 and never allowed more than three goals. He’s allowed three or fewer in 17 of his 18 playoff games this spring.

“I’ve learned a lot of valuable things about myself, about the way hockey is now, it’s changed,” Holtby said. “You have to play a little different than in the past with the speed and the way the game is mostly all about offense now. It’s different that way and I think that was one thing I had to learn.”

Baby named for Knight. A Las Vegas couple who survived the October shootings that killed 58 at a local country music festival named their newborn after one of the Golden Knights’ players, saying the team brought positivity into their lives after the tragedy.

The daughter of Lauren and Brad Sugars was born May 18, the day the Golden Knights advanced to the Cup Final, KLAS-TV reported. The couple originally had the name Austin in mind but decided to go with Riley — for Knights player Reilly Smith.