Washington Capitals Goalie Situation: A Short Rant

Even when the Capitals win nowadays, we have questions. And we love that they win, but here we are saying, “They’re just not that good,” but here they are, being good.

Feb 9, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) makes a save against the Florida Panthers in the first period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

A perfect example of this is Braden Holtby this past Saturday night. Holtby shutout the Florida Panthers in the Capitals 5-0 win, a total change of pace from Holtby’s unimpressive first five starts. I recently speculated that the Capitals could make a play for a veteran goaltender to bring stability to one of the most shaky parts of the roster, but now one of the goalies has shown promise! So what are we supposed to do?!

GM George McPhee has now been placed in an awkward position of not being able to make a goalie trade, because one of his goalies has shown they are capable, and now there’s hope for the other. I’ll give it a few more games, and if Neuvirth performs tonight, maybe we’ll extend the window to 10 games. But if this doesn’t get better, I expect McPhee to make some calls. And by that I mean, I demand it.