The Washington Capitals suffered a major setback during their 6-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 at Bell Centre on Friday night, and it had nothing to do with the loss itself.
Starting goaltender Logan Thompson left the game with an apparent injury after a collision with teammate Dylan Strome late in the third period.
The incident occurred with 6:37 remaining in regulation, as Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky scored to extend Montreal’s lead to 5-3 on the play in which Strome collided with Thompson.
Thompson remained on the ice underneath Strome, appearing in immediate discomfort, and struggled to get up. The goalie favored his left leg once he got up and needed help from teammates and head athletic trainer Jason Serbus to leave the ice.
According to The Hockey News' Sammi Silber, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery did not provide an update on Thompson’s condition following the game.
Before the collision forced his exit, Thompson had allowed five goals on 35 shots. Backup Charlie Lindgren came in relief, allowing one goal on five shots in his fifth career playoff appearance.
Thompson, who missed the final seven games of the regular season due to an upper-body injury suffered on April 2, had been a key contributor for Washington in the series’ first two games, allowing just three goals combined before Game 3.
Earlier on Friday, before he was forced out, Thompson had additional injury scares.
In the first period, he went down clutching his head after getting Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki's stick to his mask.
Later in the second period, he appeared to take a puck to the neck, with Monumental Sports Network’s Devante Smith-Pelly noting postgame that Thompson had a visible bruise, per RMNB's Katie Adler.
The Capitals entered the night leading the series 2-0 but were overwhelmed in Game 3 after taking a 1-0 lead just 3:20 into the first period.
At the end of the first frame, Montreal opened their scoring with Alexandre Carrier's goal at 19:07. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield sandwiched a Capitals goal in the second period before Alex Ovechkin tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period.
Ultimately, the Canadiens won 6-3, scoring three uncontested goals following Ovechkin's goal with Christian Dvorak, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Alex Newhook hitting the net once each.
The battle between Canadiens' Sam Montembeault and Thompson was the biggest storyline through Game 2, but the Habs netminder also suffered an injury before Thompson went down.
Game 4 between the Capitals and Canadiens is scheduled for Sunday night at Bell Centre in Montreal.
