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WEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 2, 2011

ADVERTISING FEATURE

See Today’s Examiner Inside

BACK FROM BREAKCaps Back in Action After Ovechkin,

Green Play in All-Star Game

� A New Young GOALIE EMERGES

INSIDE:

� One-on-One with Center NICKLAS BACKSTROM

� FLASHBACK: Bondra Breaks Out of a Slump

� Big Week Includes SUPER SUNDAY VISIT FROM PENS

Braden Holtby readily admits that his first go-round in the NHL, an un-even five-game stint with Washington in November, didn’t go the way he hoped it would.

The same can’t be said about the 21-year-old Capitals netminder’s second tour.

With goalies Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth ailing, Holtby was brought back up from AHL af-filiate Hershey on Jan. 19 and put to-gether an exceptional three-game run.

He went 2-0-1 and made 87 saves on 90 shots to lower his goals-against average from 3.84 to 2.47 and lift his save percentage from .845 to .908.

It was a marked improvement over the 2-2-1 stretch in November when Holtby permitted 13 goals on 84 shots.

“I wanted to get back into it and make sure that I played well the next time I got the opportunity,” Holtby said. “I think it was better that it hap-pened that way, that I knew that I could play but it wasn’t going to come that easy.”

Holtby returned to Hershey in late November and continued the success

which earned him his initial turn with the Caps.

In 18 games with the Bears, Holtby has gone 10-5-1 with a 1.82 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage to earn a spot in last weekend’s AHL All-Star Game.

He said he learned a lot about how to prepare himself and how to ap-proach practice during his first stint in the NHL, and took those lessons back to Hershey.

“In practice, I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Holtby said. “I was getting frustrated and not focus-ing on doing the right things and more focusing on the process instead of the results.

“When I went back down to Her-shey, I was back in business, trying not to put too much pressure on myself. … I’m starting to figure that out and taking steps in the right direction and hope-fully I can keep it going.”

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau ex-pressed that he saw a different Holtby during call-up No. 2. But Boudreau isn’t yet lumping him into the same group as the team’s two 22-year-olds, Varlamov and Neuvirth.

“Last time up, he played two good games and then the bottom fell out of it,” Boudreau said. “So he knows what’s at stake, that he’s always on trial for his NHL career.

“To be an NHL player, you’ve got to do it over and over and over again until it you’re doing it way more than you’re not having a good game. He’s still on trial.”

Holtby, a native of Saskatchewan, had his big breakthrough on Cana-da’s biggest stage — a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast in Toronto on Jan. 22.

The 2008 fourth-round pick saved 35 of 36 shots to backstop Washing-ton to a 4-1 win.

It was the highlight of Holtby’s latest stint with the club, which has Caps teammates excited about his potential.

“He’s a big guy, he’s athletic, he’s competitive and he’s going to push the other two guys,” forward Brooks Laich said. “He’s showing that he deserves to be here, so we can only hope that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg and that there’s a lot more Braden Holtby to be seen.”

THE NEXT THE NEXT THE NEXT THE NEXT THE NEXT THE NEXT IN NETIN NETIN NET

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3.07 Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s goals-against average in 16 career regular-season games against the Caps. Washington hosts the Penguins Sunday.

Friday, Feb. 4at Tampa Bay Lightning

7:30 P.M., ST. PETE TIMES FORUMCSN+ (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AM

By Josh Land

BONDRA BREAKS OUTFlashback: Flashback: Flashback: Feb. 5, 1994Feb. 5, 1994Feb. 5, 1994

Struggling sniper Peter Bondra bust-ed out of a slump in a big way on this night with one of the most memorable goal-scoring outbursts in Washington Capitals history.

Bondra, who scored three goals his previous 18 games and had been held to 14 on the season, tied Bengt Gustafsson’s franchise record with five goals in a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bondra struck four times in the first period and needed just seven shots to increase his season goals total to 19.

“It’s sort of a dream come true because you always dream about scoring a lot of goals,” Bondra told the Washington Post that night.

In the first period, Bondra stunned goaltender Darren Puppa and the Lightning with a swift series of goals, re-cording his first four tallies in just over four minutes.

Puppa didn’t return for the second period and the Capitals went on to hold off the visitors at USAir Arena.

“It’s hard not to just sit and laugh and shake your head,” Washington coach Jim Schoenfeld told the Associ-ated Press that night. “You could see all the players on the bench looking at each other and saying, ‘Wow. This guy is incredible.’”

Bondra went on to finish the 1993-94 season with 24 goals and 43 points one year scoring a team-high 37 goals. He was back to his old self during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, however, leading the NHL with 34 goals in 47 games.

12-7 The composite score over the Caps’ four 2010-11 meetings with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Friday’s opponent.

Note of night: Caps are 1st team in NHL history with four or more wins from three different

goaltenders aged 22 or younger in same season.– @VogsCaps on young goalies Semyon Varlamov,

Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby.New York Islanders.

Holtby went 2-0-1 in his last three starts for the Capitals.

“I’m in history again.” – Alex Ovechkin (right), after creating the first penalty shot in NHL All-Star Game history when he playfully tossed his stick to stop a Matt Duchene breakaway

HOLTBY’S SECOND STINT IN WASHINGTON SHOWS HIS POTENTIAL

Sunday, Feb. 6vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

12:30 P.M., VERIZON CENTERNBC (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AMWASHINGTONCAPS.COM FOR TICKETS

Tuesday, Feb. 8vs. San Jose Sharks

7 P.M., VERIZON CENTERCSN (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AMWASHINGTONCAPS.COM FOR TICKETS

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Caps Week Caps Week Caps Week IN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERSIN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERSIN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERS

“It felt nice to be out there to be honest. My first couple shifts were pretty short,

just trying to get the feeling back. Playing with Gordo and Stecks, it felt good

just to be back out there, period. I’m just disappointed we didn’t get the win.”

– Caps winger Matt Bradley after returning from a broken finger last

Wednesday against Atlanta.

“I went at [Leafs defender Luke Schenn], was able to turn the puck over and the rest is history. I think I blacked out a little after that. I don’t even remember exactly what happened.” – Caps winger Matt Hendricks (right) on his highlight-reel breakaway goal Jan. 22 at Toronto.

800 The number of career games played by Caps defenseman Scott Hannan through

last Wednesday’s loss to Atlanta.

9-3-5 Washington’s record over its last 17 games before the All-Star break.

It is official - the Young Guns are all grown up for the Caps.– @cmasisak22 after noting that Alexander Semin, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green will be the highest-paid set of four players in the league next season.

Bondra suited up for the Winter Classic Alumni

Game Dec. 31.

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Q: How would you evaluate your year so far? The drop in goals has been well-docu-mented, but do you feel like overall it’s been a pretty good year for you?NB: I think it’s been all right, a little up and down. It’s been OK so far, but I can do better I think.Q: Does any pressure come with signing a 10-year contract, pressure to live up to it or is it more comfort to know where you’ll be for the next decade?NB: Of course you know you have to do your job. At the same time, I think it’s a good thing, too. You can feel comfortable and you know you have the organiza-tion believing in you. So that’s something good, too. But at the same time, you have to handle the pressure it comes with and everything.

Q: With the way the team has become more defensive-minded, have you had to change the way you play at all to that end?NB: No, I don’t think so. But I can see that we’re not scoring as many goals as we did last year and that’s kind of hurt us. But I don’t think that’s an excuse. If you’re going to go far in the playoffs, you have to play defense like we’ve done. We have to learn to play with the lead and shut things down, and I think we’ve been doing that the last couple games. Q: How do you feel like you’ve improved as a player this year? Are you even more at ease at this level?NB: Yeah, I feel more like that. I’ve been playing a couple years here now and it’s just getting better and better. You know what it’s all about after you’re able to stay a couple years. It’s hard to say, but I feel like I know what it’s all about and that’s good.

Q: Have you become more of a leader or outspoken in the locker room, now that you’re in your fourth year on the team?NB: That may be right. But I haven’t changed too much in my personality since I was a kid. I just feel more comfortable, take more responsibility in different situations and everything. I don’t know if you want to call me a leader. I’m not sure that’s what you’d call it.Q: Do you think your even-keeled personality has allowed you to be as steady as you’ve been on the ice?NB: I think so. It’s a lot about your personality and how you think out there.

Fresh off signing a new 10-year contract with the Caps, center Nicklas Backstrom has put together another solid season, ranking second on the team at the All-Star break with 46 points. The 23-year-old Swede did endure a lengthy goal-less drought and scored just 12 times in his fi rst 51 games. But he continues to be an assist machine, ranking ninth in the NHL at the break with 34 helpers.

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Q&A with Q&A with Q&A with Nicklas Nicklas Nicklas BackstromBackstromBackstrom

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