The Washington Capitals knew they were in for a tough test against the Vegas Golden Knights. The reigning Stanley Cup champions haven’t shown any signs of slowing since winning their first NHL title in June and entered Tuesday night’s game at Capital One Arena atop the Pacific Division, with just two regulation losses through 15 games.
Washington
Behind Charlie Lindgren’s shutout, Capitals deny the defending champs
As winners of six of their past eight games — after prevailing just once in their first five games of the season — the Capitals welcomed the chance to measure themselves against one of the NHL’s best teams. Washington more than passed the test, blanking the Golden Knights, 3-0, to win its third game in a row.
With 35 saves, Charlie Lindgren posted Washington’s first shutout of the season.
“He was the win,” Coach Spencer Carbery said. “Just fantastic all night. Go down the list of the breakaways, all the different saves in tight, some screen and tips, some rebound stuff. He had it all. … All sorts of different stops. The difference in the game.”
Dylan Strome scored the first goal late in the first period, and that held up as the game-winner. It took the Capitals (8-4-2) until the final minute to add to their lead, but they didn’t need to. Connor McMichael hit the empty net with 49 seconds left, and Beck Malenstyn added an exclamation point with a highlight-reel deke to beat Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson (28 saves) on a breakaway with 33 seconds remaining.
Seeking a spark from his top six forwards after four of the six even-strength goals the Capitals scored in their previous two wins came from the bottom six, Carbery reunited Strome, Sonny Milano and Matthew Phillips, who were a successful combination during the preseason. That move quickly paid off.
Late in the first period, Milano banked a pass off the boards to spring Strome and Phillips on a two-on-one. Strome looked toward Phillips, suggesting that he was going to pass, before firing a shot into the far upper corner of the net.
Washington had a five-minute power play in the second period after center Evgeny Kuznetsov was hit in the head by the Golden Knights’ Paul Cotter, who received a match penalty, but the league’s worst power play couldn’t convert. Carbery made changes to the power-play personnel Tuesday, flipping Phillips and Tom Wilson on to the top unit in place of Strome and T.J. Oshie, but the changes didn’t solve the Capitals’ woes.
Vegas (12-3-1) went on the power play shortly after Washington’s extended man advantage expired, which can be a white-knuckle moment for the team on the penalty kill as its opponent builds on its momentum. But the Capitals killed the penalty, then killed another in the third.
“You know power plays are coming their way,” Carbery said. “That’s a critical part in the game. … Our penalty kill snuffed them out and did a really good job, in a moment where Vegas you knew was like, ‘Okay, this is our moment where we’re going to get this game tied.’ Our penalty kill said no.”
In the first two periods, Vegas regularly swarmed Lindgren’s crease and had numerous scoring chances, including several breakaways, but Lindgren made the save each time. In the third, the Golden Knights pushed for an equalizer and put near-relentless pressure on Washington. With about seven minutes left, Pavel Dorofeyev had a point-blank shot in front that looked to be the unstoppable opportunity Vegas had been waiting for.
But Lindgren calmly stopped Dorofeyev’s first shot, then followed it up with a stop on his backhand attempt off the rebound. As he made the second save, fans in Capital One Arena began to chant Lindgren’s name.
The shutout was the first for Lindgren since he joined the Capitals before last season and his first in the NHL since Feb. 26, 2018, when he was with the Montreal Canadiens — and lost, 1-0, to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “But tonight, just right from the puck drop, I felt in the zone. I think I’ve got some really good momentum going right now. Feeling good in practice, feeling good in games.”
The Capitals are feeling good, too — in a sharp turn from their early-season woes.
“It’s hard to be critical in these moments,” Carbery said. “We’ll go back and digest the film, and we’ll get to work on all the things that we need to do a better job of. … But, to find ways to win, good teams do that. That’s what we continue to do — against a really good team.”