Capitals play it safe with Holtby, who ends up tying Brodeur's wins record

Braden Holtby will fall one win short in his quest to break the single-season wins record.

Related: Holtby wins No. 48, ties Brodeur's record in 12 fewer games

The Washington Capitals netminder sat Sunday in the club's final game against the Anaheim Ducks, meaning he'll remain tied with former New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur at 48 wins in a single season.

"Why put our player at risk?” head coach Barry Trotz said, according to Zac Boyer of the Washington Times. "You see a number of players that have gone down in their last game around the league and for us to go for something - he shares the record, so I think the bigger plan is what we want to do as a team.

"It’s too important to put at risk for individual glory, so we’re not doing that."

In turn, backup Philipp Grubauer made his 16th start of the season. The 24-year-old has posted a .918 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average this season.