Lindgren remains stout in net despite 11 days between starts originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals made it no secret coming into this season that they saw Darcy Kuemper as their clear-cut No. 1 goalie for the 2022-23 campaign. They signed him to a five-year, $26.25 million deal in free agency to be the guy for them in net and, through the first 12 days of the season, they’ve leaned on him as such.
Kuemper started five of the Capitals’ first six games before ceding the crease to backup Charlie Lindgren for Monday’s road contest against the New Jersey Devils. Lindgren went 11 days between outings after making his own team debut Oct. 13. Despite the inconsistent usage, he turned away 38 of 41 shots to earn his first Capitals victory in a 6-3 win for Washington.
“It’s not that hard,” Lindgren said on Capitals Postgame Live of staying fresh between starts. “Just because we put some really good work in in practice. [Goalie coach Scott Murray] does a great job with me. Pretty much every day I come to the rink, I compete as hard as I can, I try to get better and so I try to stay fresh. It’s all about habits so I think I have pretty good habits.”
In both of his starts, Lindgren has faced a high volume of shots against with an even 80 between the two games. Any rust on the part of Lindgren could’ve made for a more difficult evening and turned the Capitals’ comfortable win over New Jersey into a nail-biter.
“I like feeling the puck and obviously they came out flying,” Lindgren said. “That’s a really good team. They’re fast. We talked about how fast they are before the game, really good off the rush so it’s a heck of a hockey team. It’s a heck of a win for our group.”
While Kuemper is certainly in play to be the Capitals’ first goalie to start 60 or more games since Braden Holtby in 2016-17, Lindgren will also likely set a new career high in games started. He has only once started more than 10 games in a campaign — 14 with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017-18. He signed a three-year, $3.3 million deal this offseason after impressing in spurts for the St. Louis Blues last season and putting up strong numbers with their AHL affiliate.
That contract could prove to be a steal should Lindgren carry over the success he’s had in small sample sizes to date in his NHL career. It could also be valuable insurance should Kuemper, who’s dealt with several injuries the last few seasons, miss any time this year or beyond.
For now, Lindgren is in a No. 2 role playing on and off depending on his team’s schedule. There’s no goalie controversy in Washington, but the Capitals’ backup is off to a strong start to his career in D.C.
