The Washington Capitals have gone to Logan Thompson as their starting netminder for the last five games. Thompson has responded by winning all five starts and allowing just four goals.
Now Charlie Lindgren will man the crease again on Thursday night after serving as Thompson’s backup for the last two games.
“Chuckie will play against Seattle,” head coach Spencer Carbery said after Capitals practice Wednesday.
Lindgren has not played since January 10, when he suffered an upper-body injury in a collision with Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki. The 31-year-old backstop played just 22:29 against Montreal before being replaced by Thompson.
Thompson took the starting reins from that night on, receiving NHL First Star of the Week honors after back-to-back shutouts of the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators. He kept the starting duties despite Lindgren being activated from injured reserve on Saturday and being healthy enough to serve as backup against Pittsburgh and the Edmonton Oilers.
“I think each game is sort of an independent decision,” Carbery said. “I think last game was just a product of LT had been playing real well going into Edmonton [and] Chuckie had been off for a bit because of the injury and just coming back. For us, as a staff, just felt like LT continuing to play and play in Edmonton in that situation was the decision that we went with.”
Thompson made 30 saves on 32 shots against the Oilers, improving his season record to 22-2-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Per MoneyPuck, he stopped 3.05 more goals than expected.
Lindgren will return to the Capitals’ cage looking to improve on his 10-8-2 record. He has posted a respectable 2.65 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 21 starts this year. In two prior career starts against the Kraken, Lindgren is 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage.
