Is Braden Holtby the Hottest Goalie Right Now?

After Wednesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, it is necessary to take notice to one of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Washington Capitals. They are 6-0-1 in January, losing only to the Flyers in overtime, and have skyrocketed up the standings to third in the Metropolitan Division — only two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and three points behind the New York Islanders. And a good reason why the Capitols are playing so well at the moment is because of the phenomenal goaltending by Braden Holtby.

And the Capitals have always been a great scoring team — 10^th in goals per game (2.9) and 4^th in power play percentage (23.6) — but the consistency of Holtby in between the sticks have given Washington a newfound confidence. Best of all, Wednesday’s game against the Flyers marks his 20^th straight game, where he capped it off with a tough fought shutout win. As for the last 20 games, which means the entirety of the games played in December and January, his numbers have been ridiculous: he has a save percentage of .937, a 14-2-4 record and three shutouts.

Yes, the young 25-year-old did start slow: posting .907 and .913 saving percentage in October and November. However, he has been a major reason why a team entering December at 8-6-4 has picked up the pace. And while it is hard to say that he is the best thus far, he is possibly the best right now.

Even Pekka Rinne’s save percentage is severely done from the last two months: in six January victories, it sits at .910 after going above .930 in November and December. In terms of goalies who have won over twenty games, Carey Price’s last two months have been phenomenal for the Canadiens and even Marc-Andre Fleury should be known as a primetime goalie. And lets not forget, Luongo, Andersen, Lundqvist and Miller, who are all posting some great mid season numbers: but still, none sit on as big of a hot streak as Holtby in the last seven games — a .944 saving percentage over that time.

So as of the last two months, Holtby is likely the hottest; however, when talking about the season, Price and Rinne are the two best goalies thus far. Basically, even though Braden has been improving from month to month, he has to remain consistent: something that is going to be hard to do with the amount he has been playing. Lets just hope he is not burned out by the end of the season because back up Justin Peters has shown very little in six starts — 2-3-1 record and .872 saving percentage.