“I have a lot of faith in him. When he is not on, I probably let him go a little longer. He seems to sort things out. I allow him to sort that out. I said, ‘Hey, we need a stop from you in the second period,’ and the leash was going to be a little shorter. He just pulled it together, and I thought he was real strong.” - Barry Trotz

Braden Holtby was on the verge of being pulled for the second straight game as the Caps found themselves down 3-1 going into the second period of last nights game against the Rangers.

Washington was up 1-0 off a goal from Justin Williams and were in control of much of the 1st when the Rangers, all the sudden, scored three straight goals - goals that Holtby normally stops.

“I thought Holts had a bit of a shaky first [period],” Trotz said. “I said to him, ‘You’re a little close to being yanked.’ What I loved about it was, I let him stay in there and what I think great goalies are, they find ways to get their game back together. He did.."'

Holtby stopped just 9 of 12 shots, but bounced back to stop a total of 29 to finish the game.

His own rally helped the Caps gain momentum - and boy did they.

Washington scored 6 unanswered goals to comeback for the second straight game and beat the Rangers 7-3 at MSG.

Evgeny Kuznetsov started the scoring early with T.J. Oshie scoring another two minutes later.

Alex Ovechkin fired a wrist shot that beat Lundqvist on the power play, while Justin Williams scored his second of the game off a wonderful passing play from Backstrom and Johansson.

The Rangers pulled Lundqvist after the second. He let up 5 goals on 24 shots.

In the third, Jason Chimera used his speed to break free one-on-one against rookie Magnus Hellberg and beat him on a breakaway for a short handed goal.

Marcus Johansson finished the scoring off a pass from Kuznetsov.

Nicklas Backstrom, Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson all finished with 3 points each.

Although the Caps don't want to get used to coming back every game, it's nice to know that they are never out of a game no matter how much they are down.

For Holtby, it shows just how much his teammates rely on him, and vice versa when things get sticky.

“I definitely owe them one in the future, that’s for sure,” Holtby said.

“It’s a good two-way street,”said Justin Williams. “He bails us out when we have a turnover or when we’re not playing our game. He can throw up 40 saves and steal the game for us. On the other end of the spectrum, he can look at us and say, ‘Boys, you know what, I’m not my greatest, but I know we can get a win,’ and we can get a win for him. It’s a two-way street and faith runs both ways.”

"He came back and shut the door. He gave us a chance to come back and win the game," added Marcus Johansson.

The Caps have now won 5 in a row and now sit 7 points ahead of Montreal in the East. They are also tied with Dallas for tops in the league with 50 points each.

Washington takes on Carolina tonight at 7pm.

More to come...

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