Offtopic » The Coyotes have thrived on strong defensive play

LAS VEGAS (AP) When Braden Holtby took some time off in February Youth Sebastian Aho Jersey , playing in only nine of the Washington Capitals‘ 14 games, he finally had a chance to reflect on aspects of his game.It might seem easy to say being benched in favor of Philipp Grubauer for the first two games of the postseason ignited Holtby’s standout playoff run. But he credits his midseason reprieve for a revival that pushed him and Washington into the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 in Monday night.”It was great to just have a break in February where I could really analyze myself in a game, go to work, kind of get back to those roots and just working as hard as I possibly can to figure out different things of myself and the game,” Holtby said. ”This year I think is one of those years where I’ve learned more and soaked in more knowledge than previous years.”The 28-year-old veteran enters the Final with a 12-6 playoff mark, a 2.04 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. The Capitals haven’t allowed a goal in 159 minutes, 27 seconds, since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay – including 157:13 with Holtby on the ice.Several key members of the Golden Knights are no strangers to Holtby, including general manager George McPhee, goalie coach Dave Prior and defenseman Nate Schmidt, a trio that have been a part of the Capitals organization during their careers. It was Prior who recommended McPhee and company draft Holtby in 2008, when the Capitals made him the second pick of the fourth round (and the 10th goalie taken in the draft).Holtby said Prior, who has helped Vegas goalie and three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury improve aspects of his game this season, taught him ways to analyze his game he would have never thought of.”He’s obviously one of the best, he helped me a ton Authentic Teuvo Teravainen Jersey ,” Holtby said. ”He taught me how to practice correctly, how to really analyze my game honestly and grow in different ways. Before, as a young kid, I just thought if you could just work as hard as you can, that’s how you get better. But there’s strategic ways and he was awesome, very calm, very unbiased watching games.”Schmidt said a common comparison between Holtby and Fleury is easy to see.”Both guys are very athletic,” Schmidt said. ”That’s something I knew about Fleury a little bit, and it’s caused a lot of heartache to me over the years. You see that kind of thing with guys who are never out of a save. That’s what makes both of them special players.”Holtby’s regular-season numbers (2.99 GAA, .907 save percentage) are a career worst. He said taking time to focus on things he never was able to do during a regular season has helped ease his mind and relieve certain pressures he was putting on himself during games.”Obviously throughout my career of hockey playing, you know that putting too much pressure on yourself and doing too much is never that good,” Holtby said. ”And I got caught up trying to do too much, and it never works too well, and it ended up snowballing.”Snowballing to the tune of him allowing four or more goals in eight of the 16 games he played during January and February. But over his last eight regular-season appearances in March, he finished 6-2 and never allowed more than three goals. He’s allowed three or fewer goals in 17 of the 18 playoff games he’s played in.”I’ve learned a lot of valuable things about myself Womens Victor Rask Jersey , about the way hockey is now, it’s changed,” Holtby said. ”You have to play a little different than in the past with the speed and the way the game is mostly all about offense now. It’s different that way and I think that was one thing I had to learn.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals An early November home game against an out-of-conference team that hasn’t made the playoffs the past six years has taken on added importance for the Pittsburgh Penguins.Pittsburgh (6-5-3) not only has lost five straight games going into a date with the Arizona Coyotes (7-6-1) on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, but the Penguins also have the pressure of responding to strong comments made by their general manager.Jim Rutherford, on his radio show, criticized the team’s play, wondered if things had gotten stale and indicated changes might be coming soon.Article continues below ...“He’s trying to do his job,” Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin said of Rutherford. “Our job is to be here in the locker room, support each other. Step on the ice and try to play a great game. Of course he’s not happy. Five games we lost. He sent a message. We understand he’s not happy. We all understand.”The Penguins have won the Stanley Cup twice in the past three years and are a close-knit group, so the idea of changes, such as trades, that would greatly alter the makeup of the team gets their attention.“I think we’re all motivated. I think we all understand that the expectations are high,” team captain Sidney Crosby said. “When things aren’t going right, there’s always going to be questions. As a general manager, he’s got to evaluate and identify things. He’s got to do his job Alex DeBrincat Jersey , and we respect that and understand it as players.“But we’ve got to go out there and play and do the best we can and make it a lot easier on him. It’s a lot easier when you’re winning games. That’s up to us.”Pittsburgh is 4-0-1 in its past five games against Arizona.The Coyotes are coming off two losses in a row against the Philadelphia Flyers after a four-game winning streak. On Thursday in Philadelphia, the Coyotes blew a two-goal lead and fell 6-5 in overtime.Brad Richardson was pretty harsh in his assessment of that loss.“To me, it was pretty simple — we got brain dead in the third,” he said. “We turned pucks over. Just get pucks in deep and we would have won the game.”Coach Rick Tocchet called it “a learning lesson.”Tocchet, a former Penguins assistant coach, is in his second season with Arizona, which lost 11 in a row a year ago to start the season. That might put a two-game losing streak in perspective.The Coyotes have thrived on strong defensive play. As of Friday, they ranked second in the NHL with 2.43 goals against per game.“We implemented the defensive system I wanted — a more aggressive style than they were used to,” Tocchet told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.While penalty killing is rooted in defense, Arizona has also been opportunistic with a league-best nine short-handed goals.“That’s a lot of short-handed goals,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was something we talked about with our power play (Friday) is making sure that we have a heightened awareness when they’re on the ice.”Pittsburgh has allowed three short-handed goals, as many as they gave up all last season.