The Washington Capitals struggled to put a shorthanded New Jersey Devils team away Friday night at Capital One Arena. Thankfully, it didn’t matter because Braden Holtby was a brick wall.

The Holtbeast made 25 saves in the Capitals 3-0 win over the Devils.

The shutout was Holtby’s 35th of his career, tying him with Olie Kolzig for most in franchise history. Two nights earlier, Holtby became the second fastest goaltender in NHL history to record 250 wins.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve never really put too much into shutouts, but it shows how good our team has played over the years,” Holtby said to NBC Sports Washington’s Al Koken after the game. “I’m happy to get the win tonight.”

The goaltender elaborated slightly more inside the Capitals locker room.

“It’s shutouts,” Holtby said. “They’ve obviously been a little harder to get the last couple years. But it’s cool. It’s cool to be part of an organization for long enough to be able to do that.”

Five of Holtby’s 35 career shutouts have come against the Devils.

Chart: NBC Sports Washington

Holtby tied the franchise record a day before the eight-year anniversary of his first career shutout on March 9, 2011 – a 5-0 shutout against the Edmonton Oilers. The milestone shutout came in Holtby’s tenth career game and his debut season in the NHL (2010-11).

This seems like a millennia ago.

At age 29, Holtby is now only 52 victories away from tying Kolzig’s franchise wins record (303) and becoming inarguably the greatest goaltender in Caps history.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington