The Washington Capitals looked like they were bound to suffer one of their most brutal losses of the season on Thursday night. After the Detroit Red Wings tied the game with two extra attacker goals in the final two minutes of regulation, the latter a bizarre bounce off a camera hole in the glass, starting goaltender Charlie Lindgren appeared to be injured on the final play of overtime.
In the waning seconds of the extra frame, the Red Wings rushed up the ice for one more attempt on goal. Patrick Kane fed defenseman Moritz Seider for a one-time blast, and as Lindgren pushed to his right to make a potential save, he collapsed in clear pain and gingerly made his way back to the Capitals’ bench.
With Logan Thompson unavailable due to suffering an upper-body injury against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night, the Capitals recalled Clay Stevenson to back up Lindgren in Detroit. Stevenson appeared to be rushing to get ready to come into the game for the shootout, but after a quick conversation with Lindgren, he returned to his post on the team’s bench.
Lindgren did not look comfortable on any of Detroit’s three shootout attempts, making no saves. He allowed goals to Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane, but Dylan Larkin hit the crossbar on his turn. At the other end, Dylan Strome, Ryan Leonard, and Nic Dowd all scored for the Capitals, securing a crucial 4-3 victory.
The still clearly stricken Lindgren then needed help to get off the ice from defenseman John Carlson.
Once down the tunnel, Carlson and later Justin Sourdif helped carry the winning netminder back to the Capitals’ road locker room at Little Caesars Arena.
Lindgren’s other teammates could be heard yelling his nickname and giving him major props for toughing out a much-needed win for the team.
“It’s insane, man,” Dowd told ESPN’s Erik Johnson postgame. “You knew he wasn’t coming out. You knew he was hurting. Just a warrior. Yeah, yeah, big-time leader on our team.”
Before the shootout, Lindgren made 18 stops on 21 shots. Per the Capitals, with the win, he moved within one victory away from tying Pat Riggin (67) for the seventh-most wins in franchise history.
“Charlie, you could tell, got banged up on that last sequence of overtime, so he’s battling through, trying to make saves in the shootout,” head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters. He was less buttoned up in the locker room after the game, yelling, “Chuckie’s playing on one f***ing leg,” to show his appreciation for the performance.
On the season, Lindgren is 8-6-3 with a 3.33 goals-against average, a .884 save percentage, and one shutout.
