The Washington Capitals are set for a pivotal test against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night that holds extra significance in the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With a regulation win, the Capitals would extend their lead over Detroit in the wild card race to three points and still hold a game in hand.
Given the importance of the available points, the Capitals are going back to their number one netminder this season, Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren will get the start against the Red Wings despite the Capitals handing out Darcy Kuemper bobbleheads to fans on their way into Capital One Arena.
Make another add to that #ALLCAPS collection!
All fans in attendance for #CapsWings on March 26 will receive a Darcy Kuemper bobblehead.
🎟️➡️ https://t.co/xl63gCwg2T pic.twitter.com/4K9iqPYlYa
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 19, 2024
Kuemper not playing comes after Sonny Milano was too injured to play on his Chia Milano giveaway night against the Seattle Kraken on January 11. Giveaway nights, in general, for the Capitals this season have not given the team a boost as the Capitals have gone 5-5-0 and outscored a combined 37-28 in those previous 10 games.
Kuemper will sit for the second-straight game after he was pulled from a start against the Carolina Hurricanes last week. He allowed four goals on 22 shots (six on 24 if you count the two disallowed goals) before being yanked in favor of Lindgren at the start of the third period.
“I felt like I needed to do something as a coach and it’s not a decision that I take lightly to take Kuemps out there,” Carbery said postgame. “But with the amount of goals that were going in and even the two challenges that are successful and the puck plays behind the net, I just felt like it wasn’t Darcy’s night. I just felt like we had to change momentum somehow, someway going into that third period.”
Lindgren comes into the action on the back of his fifth shutout of the season, a 27-save effort against the Winnipeg Jets. The start will be his 11th in the month of March alone and in all of his March appearances he has posted an 8-3 record with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Per MoneyPuck, among all NHL starters this season, Lindgren ranks 10th in goals saved above expected (11.2). For comparison’s sake, among all goaltenders with at least 20 appearances, Kuemper ranks 50th (-6.0) in the same category.
Kuemper is signed through the 2026-27 season at a $5.25 million cap hit while Lindgren is signed just through next season at a much cheaper $1.1 million cap hit.
“I could go on and on and on about what [Lindgren’s] done,” head coach Spencer Carbery said Tuesday. “The game the other night – there’s so many different moments in the first two periods that he gives us a chance and keeps that game at 0-0 to win that game in the third period. I feel like he’s done that consistently as of late, game to game. Just giving us a chance, an opportunity to find our game, or maybe score that first goal to get up early and then we can sorta settle into our game.”
The Capitals will go back to their hot hand even though Detroit put eight goals by him the last time these two teams faced off against one another. The February 27 loss, an 8-3 blowout, came on the road after the Capitals had played the Ottawa Senators at home the night before.
“When something like that happens, [the team] feels like they let Chuckie down,” Carbery said. “He deserved a better effort from us and from the team.”
Detroit had won five games in a row coming into that night. They won’t have that sort of momentum coming into Tuesday as they’ve won just three of their last 10 and dropped a 1-0 decision to the Nashville Predators in their last game.
In March, they’ve been shut out thrice and scored two or fewer goals in five of their 11 games. However, none of that will make the Capitals feel like they can just coast to a win.
“Huge game on home ice against a good team that we’re fighting neck and neck with,” Carbery said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to just continue to do what we’ve been doing of late. Stay in the moment and focus on playing at a high level and up to our standard tonight.”
Puck drop is at 7 pm. The Capitals will also likely be paying attention to the result of the concurrent game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. If the Flyers lose in regulation and the Caps win in regulation, Washington moves into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
