The 29-year-old stopped 19 of 22 shots in relief in a 6-0 loss for the Capitals.
For Charlie Lindgren, entering the cage on Monday in Arizona wasn't the situation he'd wanted to be in. The Coyotes had just lit up Darcy Kuemper for three goals in five shots, which led head coach Spencer Carbery to put Lindgren in for the struggling veteran.
For Carbery, it was a move that he'd hoped would "stop the bleeding," but as Kuemper exited — and broke his stick on the boards on his way off the ice — the 29-year-old felt for his goaltending partner of two years.
"To be honest, it’s never fun to go in mid-game. I felt really bad for Kuemps. Honestly, it was just a couple of bad bounces," Lindgren told reporters in Arizonapostgame. "First one goes off [Logan Cooley's] skate for him, third one goes off Dowd’s stick, not much he can do there. They got all the momentum there."
The night wasn't any easier for Lindgren, who gave up two more goals in a 5-0 first period. And while Washington was able to regroup, it was all Arizona en route to a disastrous 6-0 loss.
"I think getting to the first intermission, it’s just about settling down, taking a deep breath," Lindgren said. "It definitely wasn’t a perfect game by anyone tonight, but it’s one that we can learn from. It’s an 82-game schedule; these games are gonna happen. Just gotta move forward.”
As for what's next, Lindgren said there's a simple plan in place as Washington heads home from a five-game road swing: forget about it and move forward.
"Throw it in the garbage. It was a pretty ugly game for everyone tonight, so it was our fifth game of the road trip," Lindgren said. "Still, no excuses. We gotta show up and play better than that.”
The Capitals have off on Tuesday and will get to reunite with their families and regroup before returning for a Wednesday practice. Their next game is at home on Thursday against the Dallas Stars.