Philipp Grubauer steps in for Braden Holtby, plays well for Capitals

The first indication that something wasn’t right arrived on Thursday, when 15 players took to the ice for an optional skate and Braden Holtby wasn’t among them. A week earlier, Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz had lauded the goaltender’s work ethic, crediting his refusal to take days off and his stubbornness when Trotz attempted to grant them.

Then the Capitals made the curious move of recalling Philipp Grubauer, their top goaltender in Hershey, the morning his minor-league team was scheduled to play the first of two crucial games in a divisional playoff race. Even then, Trotz downplayed the significance of the transaction, insisting merely that Holtby was “under the weather” but would still play against the New York Islanders in Game 2 of the teams’ first-round playoff series and that Grubauer was only in town as insurance.

Yet when Holtby didn’t walk down the tunnel from the Capitals’ dressing room toward the ice an hour before the game for his elaborate pre-game visualization ritual, his absence became inevitable. Twenty minutes later, the Capitals ruled Holtby would not play that night, handing the responsibility of protecting, if not outright saving, their playoff hopes to Grubauer.

He delivered. Fighting past an early two-goal deficit, Grubauer turned away 18 of 21 shots, helping the Capitals knot the first-round playoff series with a 4-3 victory.

“Amazing, amazing,” Grubauer said. “All I can say is hell of a game, hell of a comeback.”

Trotz played coy all day about Holtby’s status, insisting two hours before the game began that it would be a game-time decision but that the focus was on getting him ready to play.

In reality, Trotz later shared, Holtby woke up that morning and informed the team’s athletic training staff that his illness hadn’t improved, and that he didn’t feel strong enough to be able to play. It wasn’t until the game was in progress that Holtby joined the team at Verizon Center; even then, he only had to do so because the team was leaving from the arena to fly to New York shortly after the game ended.

“That’s been Braden Holtby all year,” Trotz said. “He’d do anything to play tonight, but he wasn’t quite there, and we made the decision that Gruby was in and I went with it.”

Grubauer, who had played in 20 games for the Capitals over the previous three seasons, drove to Washington on Thursday night. After he had strapped on his pads, laced up his skates and pulled down his mask on Friday morning, he was the third player on the ice, participating in a host of drills supervised by goaltending coach Mitch Korn before the skate began.

That playoff push made the decision to turn to Grubauer, instead of longtime backup Justin Peters, a simple one for the Capitals. Peters hadn’t started a game since Feb. 15, let alone played in one since March 28.

Early on, the results were mixed. Grubauer allowed the Islanders’ first goal at 5:14, a blast from winger Cal Clutterbuck on a two-on-one. New York then took a 2-0 lead 3:24 into the second period on Ryan Strome’s one-timer from the high slot.

But Grubauer, who finished with 18 saves, settled in. Though Kyle Okposo put the Islanders up, 3-1, at 14:29 of the second period with a top-deck wrister, the goaltender had a clean sheet in the third period. He coolly gloved a flick from the high slot by Nick Leddy at 5:43 of the third period, and weathered the final 1:15, when the Islanders took the 6-on-5 advantage with Jaroslav Halak out of their net — even though, for a time, he was without his stick.

“He played unbelievable tonight,” defenseman Mike Green said. “He came up and made big saves when needed and when necessary, and we had the confidence in him all game. That was great.”

Holtby’s status for Game 3 remains uncertain, Trotz said, but Grubauer joined the team on the flight. He could have been spending his Friday night in Hershey, turning away the Binghamton Senators and doing his best to help the Bears take one step closer to the East Division title.

Instead, he became the first German-born goaltender to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping his team salvage a series that could have otherwise swung the other way.

“We’re here, yeah,” Grubauer said. “Sometimes, it happens fast.”