In an already historic regular season for the Washington Capitals, there is one thing left to do before the post-season beings. Braden Holtby will look to tie Martin Brodeur's record of 48-wins tonight against the Islanders.
Brodeur set the mark in 2006-2007 with the New Jersey Devils in their 81st game of the season in Philadelphia to break Bernie Parents record of 47 wins.
What makes Holtby's attempt more amazing is that he has helped the Caps win 47 games in just 63 starts.
“I think it’s great,… said Martin Brodeur. “I know when I was chasing that record it meant a lot to me because it’s kind of a record (where) you go out and you’re the guy that won the most games in one season. You know, it’s a record that only one season you can do. You can’t overlap it over your career."(CSN Washington)
However, getting a win these days for Washington hasn't been all that easy.
The Caps have been playing lackluster hockey of late. With a 3-0 loss to lowly Arizona a couple nights back, Washington is showing just how vulnerable they really are.
Chalk it up to cockiness if you want, or perhaps they are just saving themselves for the playoffs, but the Caps look like a team who is coasting into the post-season, and that's doesn't bode well for fans in DC who expect their team to make a deep run.
Still, with 5 games left we may see a different Capitals team emerge just in time for their inevitable first round match up against the Philadelphia Flyers, who showed the Caps last week just how tough a series will be.
Nicklas Backstrom will be sitting out his third straight game with an undisclosed upper body injury. Backstrom took a few cheap shots from Claude Giroux and has been ailing since. Look for Marcus Johansson to center Ovechkin and Oshie tonight.
More to come...