Braden Holtby out of Game 2 with illness; Philipp Grubauer starts for Caps
On Friday, the Washington Capitals recalled goalie Philipp Grubauer from the AHL, which caused some panic. Starter Braden Holtby was ill, and had been ill since before the end of the regular season.
Don’t worry, they said. Holtby is totally playing in Game 2 against the New York Islanders, they said.
Well, turns out the panic was legit: The only thing keeping the Capitals from going down 0-2 in their series against the Islanders is one Phillip Grubauer, as the team announced Holtby is out tonight an undisclosed illness.
From the Capitals:
Grubauer, 23, has appeared in 20 NHL games with Washington, posting a 7-6-5 record with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. The Rosenheim, Germany, native made his 2014-15 regular season debut on Feb. 6 against Anaheim, stopping 23 shots in the Capitals 3-2 shootout victory to earn his first win of the season. Grubauer appeared in 17 games with Washington last season and ranked eighth among NHL rookie goaltenders in saves (434) and wins (6). Grubauer represented Germany at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minsk, Belarus, and became the second German-born goaltender in NHL history to record a victory last season (Thomas Greiss).
The most exciting German visitor to D.C. since Angela Merkel!
Now, Grubauer played pretty darn well for the Capitals back in 2013-14, when Michal Neuvirth went down with an injury. This isn’t an epic downgrade at the position, at least on paper.
But there’s no question Holtby was the Capitals’ third most vital player behind Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom this season. The soft goal he gave up to Brock Nelson in the first in Game 1 did the team no favors, but a strong redemptive game from Holtby from Game 2 could have been in the cards.
Instead, is a player making his first Stanley Cup Playoff start against an Islanders team that’s no doubt smelling blood.
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
