Logan Thompson won the NHL’s First Star of the Week honors on Monday and will be right back in the Washington Capitals’ crease on Tuesday night.
Head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed that Thompson will start for the Capitals on the road against the Edmonton Oilers. The game will be Thompson’s fifth-straight start, and he’ll man the nets despite Charlie Lindgren, his tandem-mate this season, coming off injured reserve three days ago.
“Same lineup, LT will go in net,” Carbery said pregame.
Thompson was lights out last week, going 3-0 with a 0.33 goals-against average, a .984 save percentage, and two shutouts. His 198:22 time on ice without allowing a goal was the third-longest shutout streak in Capitals franchise history.
“Eight periods of shutout hockey, he’s just been tremendous,” Carbery said last week. “He’s stepped up time and time again this year and just playing at a real high level for us, and we’ve needed all of it.”
Carbery had been splitting the starts between his two goaltenders right down the middle before Lindgren went down with his upper-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens on January 10. Lindgren served as Thompson’s backup against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Saturday in his first return to active duty.
Thompson has forced his way into Vezina Trophy discussions with his tremendous first season in Washington. The Alberta native is 21-2-3 this season with a sparkling 2.09 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Per MoneyPuck, he has saved 23.8 more goals than expected this year, which is good for second-best among all goaltenders.
However, Thompson has struggled in three previous career starts against the Oilers. He has yet to beat Edmonton, posting a 0-2-1 record with a 3.92 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage. Though, the Oilers will be without Connor McDavid who is sitting out three games due to suspension.
