Respect goes two ways for Braden Holtby, Tuukka Rask

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby doesn't often watch other goaltenders to see how they're playing, particularly this early in the season.
But one goaltender who has always caught Holtby's eye is Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins, the Capitals' opponent in their Wednesday Night Rivalry game at Verizon Center (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV). Rask is tied for the NHL lead with 14 wins, ranks second with a 1.68 goals-against average and fourth with a .939 save percentage, and is tied for second in shutouts with three.

"I've always thought he's a great goalie," Holtby said. "His movement, his skating ability and his balance are] absolutely phenomenal. It's fun to watch him. He's one of those guys that I learned a lot from."
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With Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens off to a 14-3-1 start with a 1.82 GAA, a .942 save percentage and two shutouts, it's felt at times like the League's other goaltenders are playing for second place when it comes to the Vezina Trophy this season. But Holtby, who won the Vezina last season after tying Martin Brodeur's single-season NHL record with 48 wins, isn't ready to concede Price will win it this season.
"He's an outstanding goalie," Holtby said. "His talent is obviously noticeable, but I think there's a lot of guys in this league that everyone is pretty close when you look at it."
Among them are Rask, Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild (10-6-3, 1.63 GAA, .946 save percentage, four shutouts) and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-5-2, 2.03 GAA, .930 save percentage, three shutouts).
"There's a lot of goalies that are playing really good," Rask said. "But you know what? I think the hockey itself, too, teams are playing good five-man defense and … no goalie's going to win all the games by himself. A lot of it also is how your team performs, but then again if you have a goalie, he's able to steal you some games. That's going to be a great advantage too."

The respect between Holtby and Rask is mutual. Rask remembers well how Holtby shut out the Bruins all three times he faced them in 2014-15. Holtby defeated them twice more last season, but at least the Bruins scored three goals in those games.
"He's always been very technical and very poised out there," Rask said. "Last year, he just took that other step and everything seemed to click for him, and the results were there."
This season, Holtby has been like the Capitals in that he hasn't consistently played as well as he'd like. But he's off to a solid start at 11-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA, a .923 save percentage and one shutout.
"I don't know if we've collectively, myself some games and as a group, improved as much as we want to, and that's going to be our goal here to make sure we're pushing forward, especially myself," Holtby said. "It's kind of weird, though, especially with such a small sample size. The games I felt I didn't play great we won, and games I thought I've been more myself and I've been playing better, goals just kind of went in, ones you can't do anything about. So things go in cycles.
"I feel better, my skating feels better than it did at the start of the year, so the improvement is there."
Holtby said he usually needs some time at the start of the season to feel comfortable with his skating. That period was extended this season after he was part of Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in September but didn't play in any games.
"Always coming off the summer it takes a little bit," he said, "and then with the World Cup it took a little longer just to get it back, the movements. I take a lot of time off in the summer to try to heal my body to make it through a full season. It's not so much emphasis on the first couple games, more emphasis on how I'm going to be in the long run."
After giving up at least three goals in four consecutive starts from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1, Holtby has been sharp in his past two starts. He was arguably the Capitals' best player in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, making 32 saves. He followed that with 31 saves in a 3-2 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
But even before the past two games, Holtby felt he was getting in a better rhythm. His start Wednesday will be his fifth in a row and ninth in 10 games.

"Just the way the schedule is, we've found ways to get on the ice myself or I get on extra days just to keep the rhythm there," he said. "I think that's something I didn't do very well at the start of the year and we put our heads together and found a way, because that's when I feel better, when I'm on the ice every day. Some guys are different, so it's just a balancing act."
Being the reigning Vezina winner, Holtby is somewhat of a marked man now, but said that "doesn't change anything" for him.
"It's something you can look back on when you retire and find it pretty cool," he said of winning the Vezina. "You try to win as many as you can in your short career, but that's not the main goal ever. It's just to play my best hockey every game and see where it goes."
Staff Writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this story.