The Washington Capitals will square off with the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. For the third time in five games, they will be led out onto the ice by goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
Lindgren will get his fourth start of the season after recently downing both the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils in impressive outings. Regular starter Darcy Kuemper has been dealing with a minor injury in recent days but is healthy enough to return for backup duties.
After three total starts this season, Lindgren has amassed an impressive 2.35 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. His hot start has impressed head coach Spencer Carbery and the rookie bench boss admitted last week that it could lead to more consistent playing time in the near future.
“He is certainly earning more minutes and more starts with the way that he’s been playing,” Carbery said. “He’s been fantastic.”
In his most recent game 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. Kuemper has not played in almost a week after getting “nicked up” in an overtime loss to the Florida Panthers.
Hunter Shepard remains on the roster as the team’s third goaltender after he downed the Islanders in his second career NHL start this past weekend. The Capitals are 6-1-1 over their last eight games and have given up just 18 goals against during that stretch.
The only other potential lineup tweak for Tuesday’s game against Vegas will come on defense. Hardy Haman Aktell, who skated a team-low 9:13 of ice time against the Islanders, stuck around after the morning skate to get in some extra work.
That indicates that he’ll likely be a healthy scratch against the Golden Knights. If that indeed occurs, Dylan McIlrath will get into his first NHL game this season and his first since March 1 of last season.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
