The Washington Capitals took down a high-octane New Jersey Devils team 4-2 on Friday that saw backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren star when it mattered most. Lindgren, starting in just his third game of the season, stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced in his second victory.
After three total starts, the 29-year-old netminder has an impressive 2.35 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. His hot start has impressed head coach Spencer Carbery and could lead to more consistent playing time in the near future.
Lindgren got the nod on Friday night after regular starter Darcy Kuemper was “nicked up” in the Capitals’ overtime loss to the Florida Panthers two days prior.
While unlikely, Lindgren’s strong play had Carbery considering putting him right back in net for the second half of the team’s back-to-back on Saturday. The Capitals are also carrying Hunter Shepard as a third goalie for precautionary measures.
“Back-to-back is tough to put him in tomorrow night but he is certainly earning more minutes and more starts with the way that he’s been playing,” Carbery said. “He’s been fantastic.”
In the matchup against New Jersey, Money Puck had Lindgren stopping 1.2 more goals than expected in a game that was at one stage a very tight 3-2 in the third period. Overall, Lindgren now has stopped 4.9 more goals than expected in his three starts.
That mark has him top 10 among all goaltenders in the league. By comparison, in a larger sample size, Kuemper has saved just .5 more goals than expected.
“It was a gritty one tonight,” Lindgren said postgame. “Going up 3-0 we know that they weren’t going to go away easy and they certainly punched back in the third there.”
The Devils scored two goals within two minutes in the middle of the third period and almost tied the game right after their second tally on a wraparound try by Jesper Bratt. Lindgren made sure that didn’t happen.
“That one came at a big time because I think they had scored two there and they kept on coming and had a lot of momentum,” Lindgren said. “They were throwing a lot of pucks at the net. Sometimes it’s natural to be up 3-0 and you maybe take your foot off the gas a little bit. You gotta credit New Jersey because that’s a really good, fast, skilled team. This one feels really good.”
Lindgren was asked how he stayed locked in after letting in those two goals in quick succession. “I think we’re still in the driver’s seat,” Lindgren said. “We’re still winning the hockey game. Hockey is about not getting too high and not getting too low and I think this game is a perfect example of that.
“We could be feeling really good about ourselves and we’re up 3-0 and hooting and hollering but you can’t do that in this league. Our opponents are too good. Just stay the course, stay even-keeled. Even when they got two goals, I didn’t feel rattled or stressed. Just wanted to keep my foot on the gas and keep going and I think our guys did the same.”
The Capitals are 5-1-1 over their last seven games and have only allowed 17 goals against during that stretch, which is tied for the sixth fewest in the NHL since October 25. Lindgren has gotten the start in two of those games and it sounds like that will be a more common occurrence moving forward.
Last season, Lindgren started 26 of the team’s games compared to Kuemper’s 56.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
