Braden Holtby Earns .951 Save Percentage Through First Two Preseason Games With Stars

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Harrison Brown
Photo: @DallasStars

Former Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby played his first full game as a member of the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in the team’s 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center, where he made 27 of 28 saves.

Through five periods of play this offseason, the 32-year-old has a .951 save percentage and a 1.20 goals-against average.

This comes after the Vancouver Canucks bought out the final year of his contract on July 27, which appears to have lit a fire inside Holtby. He played just 21 games last season, finishing with a career-worst 7-11-3 record, .889 save percentage, and a 3.67 goals-against average.

Last season, the Stars allowed an average of 27.1 shots-per-game (tied for the second-fewest in the NHL), a big difference from the average of 33.1 per 60 minutes that Holtby faced in Vancouver (tied for 14th-most).

In 489 career NHL games with the Capitals and Canucks, Holtby, who ranks second among the Capitals’ all-time wins leaders, has gone 289-133-49 with a .915 save percentage, a 2.58 goals-against average, and 35 shutouts. He has gone 50-46-1 with a .926 save percentage, a 2.13 goals-against average, and seven shutouts in 97 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Capitals, who drafted Holtby 93rd overall in 2008.

After sitting out the first five periods of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2018 to Philipp Grubauer, Holtby went 16-7 with a .923 save percentage, a 2.16 goals-against average, and two shutouts, including back-to-back whitewashes in Games 6 and 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.

He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2016, when he tied Martin Brodeur’s wins in a single season (48) record), and was a finalist again in 2017.

Holtby and the Stars open the regular season at the New York Rangers on Thursday, October 14.

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077
This entry was posted in News and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Braden Holtby Earns .951 Save Percentage Through First Two Preseason Games With Stars

  1. Anonymous says:
    October 7, 2021 at 3:13 am

    love holtby !! sorry to see him lleave he caps and the canucks !! really thought he would do well in vancouver hoping for a better year for him !!

    Reply
    • DC Scappeli says:
      October 7, 2021 at 3:01 pm

      Same here, I really like Holts. Good character, seemingly a good dude although I never got to meet him, and he helped take the Caps to the Cup! I think he had a similar problem with the D not playing well in front of him in VAN.

      Reply

Leave a Reply