While Charlie Lindgren may no longer have the look of an Outlaw and more resembles Evil Hercules*, he still is the same Lindy: a gamer who can make acrobatic and impossible saves. And he proved that in the Washington Capitals’ 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Making a second straight start after shutting out the Seattle Kraken, Lindgren saved his best stop for last, stretching out like a young Cal Ripken Jr. at shortstop to keep the Capitals within one.
The viral moment happened with 1:19 remaining in the game. As Lindgren skated off to give the Capitals an extra attacker, he stopped in his tracks halfway to the bench as he noticed Alex Ovechkin lost possession of the puck in the offensive zone. The Canucks quickly reloaded and got the biscuit to Phillip Di Giuseppe, who looked to ice the game with an empty-net goal.
Then it happened.
“Di Giuseppe to the empty cage… OH!!!!!” Monumental Sports Network’s Joe Beninati screamed. “Lindgren sprawls, he gets back in the nick of time. Superman save there!”
The Sportsnet telecast was not as excited as Beninati about the save, but equally as impressed.
“Goalie’s out,” the Sportsnet telecast said. “Oh! A sprawling save! Caught by Lindgren. Scrambling back. Keeps the Caps within one. Now he heads back to the bench, but all the way there!”
The Capitals were unable to tie despite a furious comeback attempt in the waning seconds. The memorable stop marked Lindgren’s second mind-bending Internet moment after he robbed the Carolina Hurricanes’ Tyson Jost with a windmill save on December 20 that is a bonafide NHL save of the year candidate.
“I thought he was solid,” Spencer Carbery said of Lindgren when asked by Vancouver media of his performance. “I think when we go back through it I don’t think he faced a ton of high-danger opportunities. I thought he was good. The two that they get, he can’t see them. The backhand from Hughes, he can’t see it. I don’t have any issue, I though he played no well.”
