WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Capitals competed for their playoff lives against the Boston Bruins in the penultimate game of the regular season — and they came out on top. Much like the year at large, Monday night’s victory went down to the wire as the Capitals fought to maintain a one-goal lead until the dying seconds.
John Carlson broke the ice 12 minutes into the game and Washington put up a dominant performance in the first two periods, outshooting Boston 22-8. But even as the Bruins launched a comeback effort in the third — leveling eight shots to the Capitals’ three — goaltender Charlie Lindgren held them scoreless to secure his sixth shutout of the season.
“(The game was) as good as we’ve seen on home ice when we needed it the most,” head coach Spencer Carbery said after the win. “I thought the game, especially through the first two periods, was so clean…everybody was just so connected with everything that we were doing in all three zones.
“So it was impressive and we needed it, obviously, to stay in this fight. Now it comes down to the last day.”
Captain Alex Ovechkin praised his team for their performance Monday night as they held steady late in an extended playoff push. After squandering one-goal advantages multiple times in April alone, this time both the Capitals’ injury-riddled defense and Lindgren managed to hold the fort.
“Well, we understand what’s on the line and I think you can see the effort,” he noted. “Huge goal by Carly. Great job by Chuckie obviously. So, I think we played a solid 60 minutes, so right now we have to concentrate tomorrow on one game. The next game is going to be a big one.”
After a six-game losing streak seemed to doom the Capitals’ playoff chances, the team put up a 3-1-0 record in their last four games to regain control of their own destiny.
“It’s all you can ask for,” John Carlson said postgame. “We’ve been through some ups and downs this year, and we’ve grinded our way to this point and excited for the opportunity to get it done tomorrow.”
The Caps now sit one win away from a return to the postseason after weeks of do-or-die games rarely found in the regular season. Rather than shrinking under the pressure, the team has reveled in the chance to play meaningful hockey into April — especially in front of Capitals faithful.
“It was fun, the last minute there, the d-zone face-off, the crowd was amazing, the building was rocking and those are the moments that you get excited for,” Tom Wilson said of the night’s atmosphere. “It was fun to do it on home ice tonight and we’ve got to go do it the hard way in Philly and get it done — and it’ll be even louder if we can get it done.”
Few have risen to the challenge more than Lindgren, who became the Capitals’ strongest player down the stretch after starting the year as a backup. Now he’s playing game after game with the season on the line and earned First Star of the Game with a 16-save shutout performance against the Bruins.
“Playing games like this, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for 20 years, honestly,” he said Monday night. “Since I’ve been playing. [These are] the kind of games where 10-year-old me, thinking about playing in the NHL, in a playoff push — I’d have to pinch myself. So I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be playing for the Capitals and playing for D.C. Looking forward to the game tomorrow.”
Still, Washington can’t celebrate just yet. A loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday could sink their season as the Caps, Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings all compete for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After the back-and-forth of the first 82 games, Carbery could hardly imagine it going any other way but down to the wire.
“I think it’s pretty fitting for what this group has been through that it would come down to the last game, going on the road, playing a back-to-back against a real good hockey team to play one game,” he said. “One game for our playoff lives and for us to get to this point.”
