Chat with goalie coach pushes Holtby to big win

11:44 AM ET

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mitch Korn had a long chat with Braden Holtby on Saturday ahead of Game 5.

It had to do with the idea of trusting the game.

“Just with the way the games have been going in this series, just the weird bounces, sometimes it feels the game is against you,” Holtby said Saturday night after a season-saving, Game 5 win for the Washington Capitals over the Pittsburgh Penguins. “It’s just focusing on making sure you have to play the percentages, play your game and control the controllable is what you want to do.

“Let everything else that’s outside of you [to] control, let it all go.”

Holtby’s chat with his goalie coach paid dividends. The Holtby we’ve come to expect was at his best Saturday night, his 30-save performance included a number of breathtaking gems, the one on Justin Schultz in the second period absolutely the save of the series. It prevented the Penguins from cutting into a 3-1 Caps lead and giving themselves life before the third period.

“That’s why he’s the best goalie in the league,” said captain Alex Ovechkin. “We knew it’s out there and he’s going to make a save and he’s going to keep us in the game. It’s kind of a situation when we need him and he need[ed] us. We believe in each other and we trust each other. …

“He did a great job keeping us in the game, keep[ing] the two-goal lead. That’s huge.”

Rewind three nights ago to when Patric Hornqvist beat Holtby in overtime to end Game 4. The Caps netminder was visibly upset as he left the ice.

Right then and there, you had a feeling the Vezina Trophy finalist was going to come back in Game 5 with a motivated response.

Mitch Korn and Braden Holtby, seen here at training camp, had a chat before Game 5 that spurred on the goalie. John McDonnell/The Washington Post/Getty Images

“Yeah, I wasn’t happy …

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