When the Caps take the ice against the Islanders tonight, they'll be down to their third string net-minder, according to Mike Vogel.
Braden Holtby gets the start in goal for the #Caps tonight. Semyon Varlamov will back up.
Mike Vogel
VogsCaps
The fact that Varlamov is healthy enough to be the back up is a pretty good sign about the status of his injury, but if he was completely fit, he probably would be starting.
Holtby played in goal for five games earlier this eason when the Capitals had similar injury troubles and performed pretty averagely. In the three games when he played the whole contest, Holtby saved 65 of the 75 shots he faced, good for a .867 save percentage. Not great for a starting goaltender, but nobody would ever accuse him of being that this early in his career.
The Capitals defense will have to play extremely well tonight to protect their 21-year-old netminder as much as possible.