ANAHEIM, Calif. — While Philipp Grubauer took his place in the Washington Capitals’ net, Braden Holtby was folded over in the tunnel leading to the team’s locker room. His forearms were pressed into his goaltending pads, and he held that position while the Capitals played on without him. He took his time taking a seat on the bench, cooling off just as Washington’s goaltending dilemma reached its boiling point.

Holtby allowed three goals on the first nine shots of the game in the Capitals’ 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. He was then replaced by Grubauer less than six minutes into the second period — the third time he’s been yanked from net early in his past six starts and the fourth time in the past month. As Washington clings to its slim Metropolitan Division lead — the team hasn’t won three straight games since the first week of January — coach Barry Trotz seems to be leaning toward starting Grubauer more often as Holtby works through his recent struggles.

“He hasn’t had a real good stretch,” Trotz said.

— Isabelle Khurshudyan, The Washington Post