Holtby Named First Star of the Week

70 and 74 celebrate Holtby's first NHL shutout.

Washington Capitals rookie goaltender Braden Holtby was named the NHL's first star of the week today for his performance over the last seven days.  During that stretch, Holtby was 4-0 with a 1.08 GAA, .965 Save%, and his first career NHL shutout in 220 minutes of playing time.  The rookie has been instrumental in the Capitals' recent surge to the top of the Southeast Division, stepping in seamlessly after the loss of Michal Neuvirth, and has presented Bruce Boudreau with a real goaltending problem (which is a great problem to have). He stopped 27 of 30 his last time out, a win over the Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.

In other important Capitals news that was first reported yesterday by Katie Carrera but didn't really get any attention because of the excitement of the win and DJ Pauly D being in the house, Nicklas Backstrom no longer has a hard cast on his thumb.  Following yesterday afternoon's victory, Carrera tweeted that she saw Backstrom enter the locker room with his cast removed, which is certainly a positive sign and indicates that Backstrom may be close to returning.

The Capitals have today off from practice as they will fly to Montreal, Quebec later this afternoon for their evening tilt with the Canadiens and Carey Price.  That game is scheduled for a 7 P.M. puck drop and will be the first of two visits to the Bell Centre over the next two weeks.  The game will be televised on Versus.