Charlie Lindgren didn’t need much goal support to shut down the defending Stanley Cup champions. He did it almost single-handedly.
Lindgren made 35 saves to help the Washington Capitals shut out the NHL-leading Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Tuesday night, marking their third consecutive victory. This shutout was his third career shutout and first since joining Washington in the summer of 2022.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Lindgren said, noting that he felt in the zone from the start. “That’s a really good Vegas Golden Knight team over there: a lot of talent and skill. They definitely made us work for it tonight, but again, the Caps came out on top. Big-time win.”
Connor McMichael scored an empty-netter in the final minute, and Beck Malenstyn added another goal with Logan Thompson back in the net seconds later. Despite being one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams and having the worst power play, which went 0 for 3 and dropped to 7.3% this season, the Capitals have won seven of their past nine games.
Lindgren was the standout player, making key saves on playoff-leading scorer Jack Eichel, denying William Karlsson on a short-handed breakaway in the second period, and turning aside back-to-back shots from Pavel Dorofeyev in the third.
“We had a lot of good looks,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “The goalie was scrambling and made some saves. Yeah, you give him a little bit of credit. He made some good saves for them.”
Dylan Strome scored the go-ahead goal on a 2-on-1 rush late in the first period, marking the fifth consecutive game the Capitals scored first. They had only opened the scoring once in their first nine games this season.
The Golden Knights, honored by President Joe Biden at the White House on Monday for winning the franchise’s first championship, have now lost in regulation for the third time in four games after starting the season 11-0-1. Thompson, a 2018 Capitals development camp participant who credits the organization for sparking his professional career, allowed two goals on 30 shots.
“He played great,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “Both goalies played awesome. He’s been good for us all year. We’re super confident in him.”
While the game lacked offense, it made up for it with physical play. In his season debut for Washington, Dylan McIlrath fought Keegan Kolesar 13:32 into the first period after delivering a big, open-ice hit on Vegas forward Jonas Rondbjerg.
Golden Knights forward Paul Cotter was given a match penalty and ejected early in the second for an illegal check to the head of Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov, who cleared concussion protocol and returned 10 minutes later. Cotter, who has no history in his brief NHL career, could face a disciplinary hearing and a possible suspension for the hit.
UP NEXT
- Golden Knights: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in the second stop of their five-game road trip.
- Capitals: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.