Despite the pressure his teammates must be feeling heading into tomorrow night’s decisive seventh game against the New York Rangers in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinals, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby is having a pretty good week.
The day after Holtby kept the Rangers at bay in Game 6 at the Verizon Center on Wednesday night to keep the Capitals alive, his fiancée, Brandi Bodnar, gave birth to the couple’s first child, NBC4 reports.
Benjamin Hunter Holtby became the fourth baby born to a member of the Capitals this season, joining a set of twins Matt Hendricks and his wife Kim had last November and the son Keith Aucoin and his wife Maureen had in March.
The HoltBaby—great first name, by the way—is a welcome addition to the Capitals family, of course, but Braden Holtby is back focused on winning Game 7 in New York tomorrow night.
“It was a great day,” Holtby, 22, told reporters after the Caps’ practice session earlier today, NBC4 reported. “Mom and baby are doing great. But now I’m focusing on hockey.”
Holtby also said that his teammates and their spouses offered him and Bodnar plenty of support during her pregnancy. Now that the HoltBaby is here, what better gift can the team get for the new parents than beating the Rangers tomorrow night?