The Capitals have seen Charlie Lindgren rise to prominence with an impressive start to the 2023-24 campaign.
Last summer, the Washington Capitals did away with their "ride the hot hand" approach to netminding, bringing in No. 1 Darcy Kuemper on a five-year deal to be the starter and signing Charlie Lindgren as the backup. For head coach Spencer Carbery, though, it may be time to move away from that approach — for now.
Following another standout showing from Charlie Lindgren on Friday en route to a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, Carbery hinted that it may be time for No. 79 to get more game action in.
"He is certainly earning more minutes and more starts with the way he’s playing," Carbery said. "He’s been fantastic."
Through three games this season, Lindgren is 2-1-0 with a .927 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against-average. While it's not the largest sample size, his play has spoken more volumes than his overall stats.
He's agile between the pipes, reactionary and plays an interesting style where he relies on his reflexes and instinct over simple structure. Lindgren isn't the most flexible, but he can move quickly and get to the right areas fast enough while tracking the puck and play very well. It's helped him come up with some big pad stops; flashy glove saves and more standout plays that have captured the eyes of the organization.
Lindgren is also perfect when it comes to mid-range and long-range shots this season. The only goes against him have been high-danger opportunities, several of which he had no chance on.
Kuemper has had the same issue, also falling prey to high-danger shots. However, it's evident that the 33-year-old is struggling overall to open the 2023-24 season, and now, he's dealing with an injury.
Kuemper is 3-3-2 through eight starts this season with a .899 save percentage. He has a mid-range save percentage of .849 and a long-range save percentage of .965, but his biggest issue has been stopping high-danger opportunities.
Right now, goaltending as a whole is far from the issue for the Capitals, who are still trying to ignite the offense and can't find chemistry on defense while also working through a myriad of injuries. However, riding the hot hand and not having a surefire No. 1 may actually provide some consistency between the pipes.
Though this didn't work out with Ilya Samosnov and Vitek Vanecek, which ultimately led general manager Brian MacLellan to spend big money on a starter in Kuemper, cap hit or intended role shouldn't have an impact on playing time. Instead, it should be about performance, and if Lindgren can string together strong games, then Carbery should feel comfortable with going back and forth. And going forward, that seems to be the plan.
Washington faces off against the New York Islanders on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Head coach Spencer Carbery hinted after the win over the Devils that Lindgren starting two nights in a row wouldn't be realistic, so expect Hunter Shepard to start with Kuemper still ailing.