Charlie Lindgren stopped 38 of 39 shots – including each of the last 32 he faced – to earn his fifth win in six November starts, helping the Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night. Wednesday’s win halted the Caps’ mini slide at two games, and thwarted the Kings’ winning streak at five games.
Both Washington goals came from the Connor McMichael line; each member of that trio finished the night with a pair of points. And the Caps again left it all on the ice in defending the slimmest of leads in the third period, with a primary assist from their video coaching tandem of Brett Leonhardt and Emily Engel-Natzke. The Caps have been on the wrong side of a slew of coach’s challenges in close games early this season, and they finally got one to go their way at a critical juncture of the third period.
“It was a big win,” begins Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “Certainly, to come into this building against one of the best teams in the League, and to perform the way we did through the first two periods and then just to defend our butts off in that third period. Chucky bailed us out on a number of occasions.
“[We] hang on, fight through, another character win. We’ve had a few of those this year, but on the road, against a team like that, it’s a big win.”
For the fifth straight game and for the 13th time in 19 contests this season, the Caps yielded the game’s first goal.
Kings defenseman Jordan Spence kept the puck in the Washington zone at the right point, and fired a cross ice feed for partner Andreas Englund, who then let a shot fly toward the net. It missed on the near side, but a lively membership bounce landed right on the tape of Arthur Kaliyev in the slot, and he fired it home for a 1-0 Los Angeles lead at 9:04 of the first.
The Caps didn’t trail for long. They got a stop in their own end, and Nick Jensen broke it out, dishing to Aliaksei Protas just outside the Washington line. From there, Protas alertly went cross ice to McMichael, creating a 2-on-1 situation on the Los Angeles side of the sheet. McMichael hit Anthony Mantha going to the net, and the big winger tapped it home to square the score at 1-1 at 12:12 of the first.
“Mikey had the puck perfectly placed,” recounts Mantha. “If the [defenseman] was shading on me, he was going to shoot that. And then the [defenseman] tried to pokecheck him, so he just had to sauce it. I had a wide open net for me.”
Los Angeles had the better of possession in the first, but the Caps navigated their way through a late penalty in the first and another midway through the second, slowly turning the possession tide during the stretches of 5-on-5 play. Washington also got a number of big stops from Lindgren throughout the game.
Late in the middle frame, the Caps cobbled together the go-ahead goal on the forecheck, grabbing their first scoreboard lead in nearly two weeks – since Nov. 18 – a span of three-plus games.
McMichael interrupted an exit attempt along the wall deep in Kings’ territory, and then Mantha and Protas worked a give-and-go; Mantha feeding Protas high in the zone and then going to the net. Upon receiving the return feed, Mantha put a point blank shot on net, and Kings’ netminder Cam Talbot made the stop. But the rebound popped into the air about waist high, and McMichael whacked it home for a 2-1 Washington advantage at 18:31 of the middle period.
“I was just going to the net,” says McMichael. “[Mantha] had a good little chance out of the corner there, and I just went to the net and saw it just hanging in the air. I just tried to get my stick on it, and luckily I did.”
The Caps have played some staunch defense in the third period this season, yielding just nine goals against in the final frame of their 19 games this season. Wednesday’s game was the latest example; every white-sweatered skater sold out to block shots, clog lanes, break up passes, finish checks, get some air under clearing attempts, win a face-off, whatever the situation called for.
Near the midpoint of the third, it appeared as though Los Angeles had drawn even on an Anze Kopitar howitzer from the right circle, a situation in which Washington winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel was gamely vying to defend after his stick broke earlier in the shift. But the Caps wasted little time in challenging the call on the ice, alleging that Kopitar had been in ahead of the puck.
Subsequent video review by the officials confirmed as much, and the Caps’ precarious one-goal lead remained in place.
“I was very confident early,” says Carbery, “because as that play was going on, we got it radioed in that it was offside. So we had an idea that if this ends up in the back of our net, we’re going to challenge it. But then when I saw the video, it got a little bit tighter because the puck was elevated and in the [player’s] sock, so you couldn’t really see it on the ice. It was in the sock, and it was offside; they made the right call. And credit to Emily and Brett for getting that.”
Lindgren stopped 15 shots in the final frame, and he was aided by some key blocks. Washington got 10 blocks in the third period alone; none was bigger than a Rasmus Sandin block on Trevor Moore midway through the period, saving a sure goal. The Caps were under siege in their own end for much of the third as the Kings out-attempted the Caps 25-5 in the 18 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey in the third.
“I thought our guys again did a really good job in front of me tonight,” says Lindgren. “I felt like I saw a lot of pucks, which is what I need to do. Credit it to the Kings over there. That could be the best team we've seen all year. Four lines, six [defenseme], good goalie; it was a tough win. For us to come in here in a tough building, and to get the two points, it was a was a big one.”
