Holtby laments 'unacceptable' performance in loss to Avalanche

Washington Capitals netminder Braden Holtby owned his tough outing Monday after being pulled during the team's 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche before recording a single save.

"I needed to fight harder to find that first one and find a way to make a save on maybe the second," Holtby said, according to The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir. "It's unacceptable on my half. The last few games here I feel like I (can) put a lot of that weight on my shoulders. ... I need to be better."

The veteran puck-stopper was replaced by Ilya Samsonov less than eight minutes into the game after allowing three goals on three shots.

The loss makes for consecutive outings to forget for Holtby, who conceded six goals in a 6-5 defeat against the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Holtby has struggled to find his game this season following a subpar campaign in 2018-19. Through five starts, he has just one victory and owns a goals-against average of 4.27 with a .846 save percentage.

The 30-year-old is in the final year of his current deal, which carries a cap hit of $6.1 million. He's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

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