The Washington Capitals didn't make it easy on themselves, or the fans, as they reached their 50th win of the season last night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Alex Ovechkin scored a controversial goal in overtime against Eddie Lack. Evgeny Kuznetsov's apparent offsides was deemed legal by definition of forward progress without losing control as he slid his skates over the line before the puck.
Hey, we'll take it.
Washington also clinched a playoff spot with the win. The Caps have played just 69 games this season and have become one of the greatest regular season teams in NHL history.
For Braden Holtby, the night ended in an individual accomplishment as he broke the franchise record for wins in a season with 42. The previous record was held by former Cap great Olaf Kolzig, who, in his Vezina winning season in 1999-2000, potted 41 wins in 73 games.
However, Holtby isn't thinking about it, or even phased by it, as the Caps march toward the playoffs number one overall in the league.
"It's one thing along the way that you hope you forget about pretty quickly because we're moving on to bigger things," said Holtby after the game
Another thing to think about? How about 6 wins away from Martin Brodeur's NHL record of 48?
Holtby is the front-runner so far for the Vezina as the leagues best goaltender, and he has shown game-after-game just how important he is to this Washington Capitals team. Holtby doesn't look at himself as a savior, but looks at his teams success as a collective effort.
"It shows the season we're having here as a team and that's good," Holtby said. "It shows consistency in what we're doing."
With the Caps sitting pretty atop the standings, they still have 13 more games to complete, which means about 8-9 games for Braden Holtby to reach a very special milestone.
Do you think he can do it?
More to come...