Something had just transpired in the Capitals’ crease, but Trevor Hanger wasn’t sure exactly what.



He sat up straight in his upper deck seat at Capital One Arena.



On the ice below, goaltender Braden Holtby had lost his mask and now was skating toward the home team’s bench for medical attention. Holtby squinted his left eye as athletic trainer Jason Serbus leaned in for a closer look.



Hanger, who was sitting in Section 407 with his wife, watched the situation intently.



Moments later, Holtby opened the dasher board door and headed down the tunnel that leads to the Caps’ dressing room. Backup goalie Pheonix Copley, meantime, began suiting up.



In the blink of an eye, Holtby was out, Copley was in and Hanger’s blood pressure had started to spike.



For each of the past two seasons, four amateur goaltenders have split emergency backup duty in Washington. On this particular Saturday night — January 12th...