recap kraken

Making his first start in nearly two weeks after a short stint on injured reserve, Charlie Lindgren was back between the pipes on Thursday night in Seattle. Lindgren stopped all 22 Kraken shots to notch his first shutout of the season at Climate Pledge Arena, delivering the Caps’ sixth straight victory, a 3-0 triumph.

Caps captain Alex Ovechkin crept a goal closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record of 894 goals, firing a long distance shot into an empty net late in the third period. Ovechkin’s goal was the 875th of his NHL career, putting him just 20 pucks away from passing The Great One.

For Washington, Thursday’s contest against the Kraken was one of its top recent performances from a 60-minute, 18-skaters and a goalie, three-zone standpoint. Only a strong game from Seattle netminder Joey Daccord kept the Caps from routing the Kraken.

“I thought that was one of the better games we’ve played in a long, long time, start to finish, in every phase,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “The second period was really strong again. The one special team moment that we have, the penalty kill is excellent; it gives us the momentum to get that second goal.

“Chucky was phenomenal. The [defense] corps, phenomenal. So tons of bright spots tonight, a real strong performance from our group.”

Despite a strong first period that was played entirely at 5-on-5, the Caps weren’t able to solve Daccord. They pumped 15 shots on the Kraken’s cage keeper, and the only one that eluded him – a left point shot from Martin Fehervary – was taken off the board via a coach’s challenge; the Caps were ruled to be offside on the play. It was the beginning of a difficult night for the Washington blueliner.

Andrew Mangiapane had a breakaway opportunity, but Daccord sealed off the left post and the Washington winger ran out of runway. Less than a minute later, Daccord denied Connor McMichael’s backhander from the top of the paint.

Playing his first game since Jan. 10, Lindgren had to wait several minutes to face his first shot, but he was his typical sharp self when needed. He denied a Matty Beniers shot from the slot, and also thwarted Seattle’s Shane Wright from a similar spot and distance.

“I think when you’re off for a bit, you want to get into the game with a couple of muffins,” says Lindgren. “And it took a little bit, and then yeah, they had a couple of nice shots early. When you keep those out though, I think it builds momentum for myself, and you just carry that through.”

In the middle frame the Caps were able to give Lindgren a lead to work with. Seconds after Daccord made an excellent stop on P-L Dubois’ rush bid, Aliaksei Protas collected the shrapnel and buried it for a 1-0 Washington lead – and his first 20-goal season in the NHL – at 4:36 of the second period.

“Yeah, that’s good,” says Protas of reaching the milestone. “Sometimes you get a bit lucky in there in those situations, but for sure I will take it. But you know you’ve got to stay consistent. It doesn’t mean anything right now; you’ve got to keep working. It’s going to be a long season, and I want to prove it’s not just luck or something. You want to be this type of player, keep working on the game, and continue to get better.”

During a Seattle power play in the back half of the second stanza, Fehervary caught a Vince Dunn center point blast flush in the face. Fehervary was aided off the ice at that point, and he went to the room for repairs before returning and playing the third period as if nothing had happened.

Late in the period, the Caps doubled their lead on a determined individual effort from Ethen Frank on a swipe and snipe play. In his own end of the ice, Frank made a bullish play to strip Seattle’s Kaapo Kakko of the puck. From there, Frank tore off on a breakaway. Daccord stopped his first shot, but Frank buried the rebound to make it a 2-0 game at 18:05.

“That’s a huge goal, for Frankie to stay with that puck,” says Carbery. “[Daccord] makes the initial save, he stays with it to get us up and go into the break 2-0. I think it was a big moment in the game, for us to have just a little bit of comfort, and then to be able to carry that momentum into the third.”

Lindgren kept the door locked in the third, and Daccord kept his club within a pair, denying Lars Eller’s breakaway bid in the third off a sharp stretch pass from Jakob Chychrun.

Ovechkin’s goal came from inside the Washington blueline with 3:28 remaining in regulation.

Lindgren’s whitewash is the ninth of his NHL career, and it stretches his career mark to 3-0-0 over the Kraken.

“I thought we played a really good hockey game, certainly one of the better, more consistent hockey games we’ve played in a while,” says Lindgren. “It was – from start to finish – a really good effort.”

Washington’s Thursday night victory in Seattle also extends its point streak to a dozen games (9-0-3).