WASHINGTON, DC — Charlie Lindgren faced an old friend on Monday night, taking the net against the LA Kings opposite former goaltending partner Darcy Kuemper. The pair had played two seasons together from 2022 to 2024 before the Capitals traded Kuemper to California.
With the Caps looking to snap a two-game losing streak, Lindgren came up big against the Kings, stopping 30 of 31 shots in the 2-1 win. Not only did the game give the Capitals some much-needed standings points, but it also gave Lindgren his first victory in over a month.
“I think for Chuckie to step in, that’s a really tough team to play against, right?” Nic Dowd said postgame. “They do all the little things. They get to the net. It’s tough for him to see pucks. He played really, really well and made some big saves. It kept us in that game when we weren’t foot on the gas.”
Lindgren had overtaken Kuemper for the starter’s role before the trade, but the pair both took different paths in the 2024-25 season. While Lindgren eventually lost his starting role to new acquisition Logan Thompson, Kuemper thrived in LA, putting up a .922 save percentage and 2.02 goals-against average on the way to third place in Vezina Trophy voting. Still, the two have remained close from opposite ends of the continent.
“I love Darcy,” Lindgren said postgame. “I think all you guys know that. I mean, he was such a pro to me, and still one of my really good friends today…So it’s fun playing against friends like that.”
Head coach Spencer Carbery, too, rejected the idea that Lindgren had more to play for against his old partner.
“I think it could have been against anyone,” he said. “Obviously he knows who was going in net at the other end, but I don’t think it mattered one iota who was going up against him. He just wanted to play well, and he did exactly that.”
What did matter to Lindgren, however, was proving himself after a rocky start to the season. Lindgren had won just one of his first five starts and averaged 3.59 goals against per game, playing largely on the second half of back-to-backs.
Much of the blame rested on the skaters in front of him. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren had stopped 1.7 goals above expected in those games, and players took responsibility for letting him down in net. So when Lindgren got a rested start against the Kings, both he and the team were determined to make the most of it.
“Chuckie’s a guy that, for some reason, we just haven’t been able to get the job done with him in net,” Matt Roy said. “But the guy works harder than anyone.”
“Those guys love him, and they just care so much about Chuckie,” Carbery. “As hard as it is for Chuckie when he’s in games and we’re not playing well in front of him and they’re ending up in the back of the net, the guys feel that too, and they take that to heart.”
LA has been one of the strongest road teams in the league, putting up a record of 9-1-2 in their first 12 away games, but the Capitals started strong, with former King Matt Roy scoring less than four minutes into the first. That early success helped Lindgren gain confidence as the night went on.
“It helps to get off to a good start,” he said. “I feel like my first few games probably haven’t been that way. I’ve been taking ourselves a whole one nothing, two nothing, three nothing. Felt good to go to a lead tonight and credit to the guys in front of me for doing that.”
That’s not to say that Lindgren wasn’t tested, even in the first period. One of his biggest stops of the night when he stopped Alex Laferriere on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the opening frame.
“You look at the first period, I mean, they didn’t have a ton of rubber at the net,” Lindgren said. But maybe the ones they had were maybe above average quality. So that’s my job, to obviously keep the puck out of the net…thankful that I was able to do that tonight.”
Kuemper, too, put up an excellent showing against his former team, a fact Lindgren made sure to highlight postgame, pointing to what looked like a surefire goal from Tom Wilson at the netfront that Kuemper had managed to stop.
“He had a heck of a game,” Lindgren said. “I mean, we’re up 2-0 and I was just dying for us to get to three. And he did a good job. I don’t even know — that one in the third on Willy — I don’t know if he saved that or what. But he played heck of a game
But except for a single goal from Anze Kopitar, Lindgren stood tall to hold onto the lead, even as the Capitals faltered. He went on to make a series of critical saves in the final 20 minutes, both during an LA power play and at six-on-five to secure the win.
Lindgren is unlikely to retake his former starting role, especially given another stellar start to the season from Thompson. But competing against Kuemper once again, albeit on opposite sides of the ice this time, Lindgren proved he can still come out on top.
