In the 1990s, Brent Johnson was a terrific starting goalie for the St. Louis Blues. He led a good team, stopped the shots he had to stop and won more than he lost. He set a (since broken) playoff shutout record. At that time, the Capitals had a great starting goalie of their own named Olaf Kolzig. Towering over other NHL goalies of the day at 6’3″, Kolzig wore the nickname Zilla with pride, even getting it painted on the back of his helmet. Two years ago, Johnson came to Washington and became Kolzig’s unquestioned backup. For two years he struggled unsuccessfully to shake that tag.

This summer the Caps replaced Kolzig with the younger, more accomplished Jose Theodore, and Johnson’s prospects of assuming a starting netminder’s job looked slimmer than they had in some time. But Johnson has just earned three straight starts. He held Ottawa to overtime and then beat Carolina and the New York Rangers. Carolina and New York are both division leaders, so he hasn’t looked bad.

Don’t misunderstand: Johnson hasn’t looked better than Theodore. Both goalies tend to let in a couple of frustratingly preventable goals every time they play. Both give out too many huge rebounds, making it easy for opponents to shoot again. Both make beautiful acrobatic saves on shot after shot, and then get beaten easily off rebounds and deflections. They look like two average NHL goalies. The difference is that when Johnson plays average, the Capitals win. Tonight Johnny deserves a fourth straight start against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Classic Kolzig photo by timkelley.