Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery made the unorthodox decision to start goaltender Charlie Lindgren on back-to-back days, Sunday afternoon. Lindgren was right back in net after he stopped 25 shots in a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at home on Saturday. Lindgren was impressive in that win but it was also his first start since losing six games to an upper-body injury furthering the surprise that he was now set to go toe-to-toe with Igor Shesterkin inside Madison Square Garden.
Once the game began, however, nothing in Lindgren’s performance betrayed that he’d played less than 24 hours earlier. Lindgren was again the Capitals’ best player on the ice in the 2-1 loss, making a series of excellent saves to keep his team in the game until the final horn.
“He’s a battler, hasn’t played a lot in the last few weeks with him being hurt, so we thought it was a good opportunity to go back with him,” Carbery said postgame. “He’s played great against the Rangers in his starts that he’s played. Played great last night, and tonight was no different.”
Lindgren last played both halves of a back-to-back while with the AHL’s Laval Rocket and had never done so at the NHL level. The game marked the third time this season he would face his brother Ryan, a defenseman for the Rangers, lending the game extra gravitas.
“Obviously, I played a lot of back-to-backs in college and played a lot of back-to-backs in the American League. So for me, it was nothing really new,” he explained. “Found out shortly after the game last night, so I was able to just kind of wrap my head around it and recover that night and get ready for what was a big test today.”
After allowing two goals in the first period, Lindgren held New York scoreless in the final 40 minutes. His high point came midway through the second period when back-to-back penalties gave the Rangers a two-man advantage for 37 seconds. When Chris Kreider appeared all but guaranteed to extend New York’s lead to two, Lindgren blocked the initial shot with his left pad before sprawling out to glove the rebound.
#ALLCAPS Great save by Chuckie pic.twitter.com/QmQzYBLSWc
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 14, 2024
After the game, Lindgren offered a downplayed response as he described the play from his perspective.
“It was Fox down on my right and I knew where Kreider was there, pretty much right on top of the crease, where he makes a living,” he said. “He got a good shot on that first one and the second one is just more of a reactionary battle save, really. That’s all it was. Obviously, it came at a big time in the game. We were down 2-1 at that point. So you know how crucial every puck is, right? I think keeping it at 2-1 was good and we were able to push in the third.”
Lindgren made eight total saves during the overlapping penalties, including three during the two-man disadvantage. Rather than emerging from the kill with a two-goal deficit, the Capitals came out energized thanks to Lindgren’s highlight-reel stops.
“That five-on-three gives us some momentum where we turn the game a little bit in the second there and have a bunch of chances after that,” Dylan Strome said postgame. “He’s been really good and made that really good glove save on Kreider and the slot and some other solid saves. He’s kicking pucks to the corners and he’s battling.”
He made another flashy glove save in the third period, stopping a wrister from Jimmy Vesey.
#ALLCAPS Great play by TVR here, and great save from Lindy pic.twitter.com/7SrThZelI2
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) January 14, 2024
By the end of the game, Lindgren had stopped 29 of 31 Rangers shots, ending the weekend with 54 total saves. Though they ultimately split the pair of games, Lindgren’s performance helped spur his teammates on to consecutive good performances against their division’s leader.
“We know that Charlie’s always going to give his all for us when he’s back there, and we’ve got to return the favor,” noted Max Pacioretty.
The pair of games marked Lindgren’s first starts since December 29 against the New York Islanders, when a high shot ended his night early. After six games out of the lineup, Carbery’s decision to play Lindgren in both outings all but solidified his status as the Capitals starting goaltender even before his strong performance Sunday–and for good reason. Per MoneyPuck, before puck drop, Lindgren ranked third in the NHL with 14.5 total goals saved above expected. Additionally, his mark of 0.959 goals saved above expected per 60 minutes topped the list of all goaltenders with five or more appearances this season.
In Sunday’s loss he added another 1.21 goals saved above expected. His new total sits just above 15.7 which trails only Thatcher Demko (16.4) and Connor Hellebuyck (19.8) in the league.
Lindgren may not have long to rest before his next start: the Capitals will have Monday off before facing the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. Darcy Kuemper was the goaltender in net when the Capitals beat the Ducks in Anaheim this past November.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
