The Capitals netminder hasn’t had an easy start to the season. What plays into it?
It hasn’t been easy going for Washington Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
Following a 35-save shutout to open the season, Lindgren’s had a rough go in net, dropping his last four starts and giving up at least three goals in each.
Through five games, the stats don’t look great for the 31-year-old, who has a .878 save percentage and 3.79 GAA to start things off.
But are things really as bad as they seem?
Looking at the advanced numbers, Lindgren’s goals saved above expected remains in the positive at 1.7, and at even strength, he has a .900 save percentage. There have been times where he’s fumbled pucks or struggled with rebounds (he ranks 13th in rebounds per save), but for the most part, he’s stopping the shots he should, with deflections and breakaways being out of his control.
It’s the play in front of Lindgren to start the season that’s also part of the problem.
With Logan Thompson earning the starting role, Lindgren’s been playing on the second half of back-to-backs, with the exception of a start against the Vancouver Canucks, a 12 p.m. start that the Capitals are known to struggle with.
Part of the issue is on the penalty kill, and the play in front of Lindgren in the circumstances that he’s getting starts, with D.C. battling fatigue and other circumstances.
When Lindgren plays, the Capitals are only blocking 17.49 percent of shot attempts against, the third-lowest percentage in the league.
It’s also hard for goaltenders when they’re sitting for games at a time, and for Lindgren, it’s about finding consistency and getting acquainted to not sharing the net as much, which wasn’t the case a season ago.
Washington has 10 more sets of back-to-backs this season and certainly time to evaluate the matchups. There’s also room for Lindgren to fine-tune some areas of his game, but at the end of the day, the all-around play has to improve team-wide.