ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals are leaning hard on Logan Thompson in their last-ditch run at a playoff spot.
Thompson will take the net once again against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, getting the start for the 10th game in a row. Dating back to March 3, Thompson has played in 13 of Washington’s last 14 games, with Charlie Lindgren’s only start coming on the second half of a back-to-back against Buffalo on March 12.
The Capitals have a record of 5-2-2 over Thompson’s 10-game starting streak and currently sit three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Head coach Spencer Carbery acknowledged that Thompson’s heavy workload wasn’t optimal, but maintained that playing him gave the Caps their best chance to win.
“Logan’s earned the opportunity to play in these games,” Carbery said after Saturday’s morning skate. “That’s as simply put as I can phrase it. He’s earned the opportunity to play in as close as you’re getting to do-or-die situations for our team.
“And so, yeah, it’s not ideal him playing this many games in a row. It’s not ideal that Chucky hasn’t played in a while. I don’t like that. I know — he’s an unbelievable teammate, but deep down he wants to play games. And even for management of fatigue and whatnot, it’s not ideal. But at the same time, this is all hands on deck, and we have to find a way to get two points tonight.”
Thompson has been one of the Capitals’ best players this season and is arguably the reason they remain, however marginally, in the playoff race. He’s posted a 27-21-6 record with a .909 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average, earning him a spot on Canada’s Olympic team and potentially putting him in the Vezina Trophy conversation. Per MoneyPuck, his 24.6 goals saved above expected ranks third in the NHL, though it took a hit in a 7-3 loss to New Jersey on Thursday that saw Thompson allow 3.6 goals above expected.
The Capitals have seen an uptick in goals against over the last two weeks, allowing three or more goals in their last six games, but Carbery attributed that to defensive breakdowns rather than poor goaltending.
“We’re giving up more chances,” Carbery said. “So what [do I] attribute that to? There’s a lot of things that we’ve looked at. There’s no doubt, and we’re way past this, but John (Carlson) and Nic Dowd were a big part in that. They were two of our best defensive players, and so losing those two guys, I’ve noticed just a little bit more of an uptick in the chances that we’re giving up, and some defensive scenarios that we’re seeing too many times, where we would like to see maybe five or six less of those a game. So we’ve got to do a better job…We’ve got to tighten it up a bit defensively. No doubt we’re working on that every day.”
After facing the Sabres on Saturday, the Capitals will have a quick turnaround before playing the New York Rangers on Sunday. Though Thompson and Lindgren have split starts for every back-to-back this season so far, Carbery didn’t rule out the possibility that Thompson could play two nights in a row.
“We’ll make that decision,” he said. “Depending on anything unforeseen, I’m not going to commit to anything, but usually Chucky would start in that situation.”
Carbery previously played Clay Stevenson in back-to-back games on February 2 and 3, but only did so after a series of injuries left the Capitals without either of their regular NHL goaltenders. Stevenson played ahead of Garin Bjorklund, who has not made his NHL debut.
