The Washington Capitals dropped their third-straight game Tuesday night, falling to the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-2 blowout loss. After Alex Tuch netted Buffalo’s sixth goal of the game, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery opted to pull his goaltender for just the fourth time this season, swapping out Charlie Lindgren for Darcy Kuemper for the final 15 minutes.
As the Caps approach the final few games of the regular season, head coach Spencer Carbery described his decision as a matter of load management rather than judgement of Lindgren’s performance.
“I just thought the game was — give Kuemp (Kuemper) some reps and give Chucky (Lindgren) the last 15 minutes off,” he said postgame.
Lindgren has bore a significant workload for the Capitals in recent weeks. He started in 17 of Washington’s last 20 contests and led all NHL goaltenders in total games played (14) in March. Meanwhile, Kuemper had watched four straight games from the bench since Carbery pulled him against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 22.
Even on a night where Lindgren allowed six goals against, Dylan Strome made a point to praise his performance behind a struggling Washington defense.
“They probably should have been up more in the second,” Strome said after the loss. “Chucky made like 10 saves that were incredible.”
Strome instead blamed the loss on the Capitals playing a high-event game rather than the more controlled pace behind many of their recent wins.
“We had one game that’s 7-6 and then obviously every time we give up those chances, it’s not good unless Chucky really bailed us out, which he did tonight, and we still gave up the goals and the chances,” he said.
With two sets of back-to-back games left on the schedule, Carbery will need Kuemper ready to play at least a few more times this regular season, offering another motive for putting him in late against Buffalo. One of those starts could come as soon as Thursday, when the Capitals open a back-to-back at home against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
