The Washington Capitals outplayed the San Jose Sharks and played well enough to deserve the win, but lost 2-1. Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings was the complete opposite. The Caps were outplayed by the Kings, but buckled down defensively, and Charlie Lindgren came up with some monumental saves to hold the Capitals’ 2-1 lead.
He ended the evening with 38 saves and had a milestone of his own. Washington’s netminder improved to 5-1-0 in the month of November, which equated to a .833 winning percentage, which is a franchise record during the month.
Charlie Lindgren stopped 38 of 39 shots to help the @Capitals improve to 7-3-1 in November. Only the Rangers (9-2-1) and Panthers (9-4-1) have more wins this month among Eastern Conference clubs.#NHLStats: https://t.co/gaN3xYgHFQ pic.twitter.com/KDlEAkznY8
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 30, 2023
“It was a big win, certainly. To come into this building against one of the best teams in the league to perform the way that we did through the first two periods and then just to defend our butts off for that third period,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “[Lindgren] bailed us out on a number of occasions. Hang on, fight through, another character win. We’ve had a few of those this year but this on the road against a team like that is a big win.”
The Caps (14-3-2) snapped a two-game losing skid and also ended Los Angeles’s five-game win streak.
Here is what stood out.
Charlie Lindgren Sensational; Defensive Commitment.
Lindgren once again essentially stole the game for the Capitals. Washington was heavily outshot 39-15 in the game and was outshot in all three periods. Lindgren’s acrobatics came in the third period, where the Kings were piling on the pressure.
“So many different saves in different ways. Long range, flank one timers,” Carbery said. “Phenomenal performance to get us two points tonight.”
#ALLCAPS Chucky is unreal pic.twitter.com/Qogun5lyYI
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 30, 2023
However, Wednesday’s low-scoring affair was not just the Lindgren show. The Capitals did a really good job protecting the house and keeping the Kings to the outside, whenever they gained entry into the offensive zone.
The defensive structure really started to take shape in the second period. The Capitals’ blue line did an outstanding job taking away passing lanes with their sticks and boxing out in front of Lindgren.
Despite the Kings tilting the ice in the third period, outshooting the Capitals 15-3 in the final frame, the Caps were still committed to sacrificing the body and clogging the middle of the ice.
Rasmus Sandin came up with some big blocks late along with Beck Malenstyn. No stop was bigger when he laid down in front of a wide open net to block Vladislav Gavrikov’s backdoor shot.
#ALLCAPS Couple good saves from Lindgren and Sandin pic.twitter.com/VNAH1i6vwD
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 30, 2023
“You can go down our whole roster tonight [from] top to bottom. Guys doing the little things to get it done. We had some huge pass breakups there, some huge blocks. That’s what you need to do, especially against really good teams,” Lindgren said. “It takes every single guy. You can’t really have any passengers in a game like tonight, so it’s just a huge win by our guys.”
The Capitals ended the evening with 18 blocked shots.
Third Line Magic
The Caps new third line composed of Anthony Mantha, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas was buzzing right from the drop of the puck. Along with getting both goals for D.C., the trio was doing a lot of good things in the offensive zone. They were strong on the forecheck and coming away with pucks in the corners.
“I think just playing with those two big bodies there. I notice we win a lot of puck battles and I think it showed on my goal there,” McMichael said. “We were all over them winning second chance pucks and using our big frames, myself included.”
McMichael especially was outstanding. He had a great backcheck in the second period and also led a rush up ice on the same shift. He was creating lots of plays and continues to play with so much confidence.
Meanwhile, his pass on the Mantha goal was a thing of beauty.
Mikey and Mo with the 2-on-1 clinic pic.twitter.com/LuoGhCguao
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 30, 2023
One thing that stood out about Protas was his puck protection. On the Mantha goal, he noticed that a LA defenseman was coming towards him, so he turned his back to keep the puck away from him and fed a perfect pass to McMichael.
#ALLCAPS 1-1. PROTAS MAKES A GREAT PASS TO GET A ODD MAN RUSH AND MANTHA BURIES THE GOOD PASS FROM MCMICHAEL pic.twitter.com/H5P88KucUc
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 30, 2023
The line had 10 scoring chances, six of those coming in the high danger areas.
#ALLCAPS Another chance for the big 3 pic.twitter.com/VZivAdzsLr
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 30, 2023
First Line Ineffective
While the Capitals ended up earning two points, the top six continued to struggle. The top line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson only combined for three shots at even strength. On the other side of the puck, the trio was on the ice for nine shots against and were sometimes too soft with their clears.
The bigger problem for the Caps: their top six forwards combined were on the ice for one single shot attempt for. The top line didn’t record a single shot attempt pic.twitter.com/EBnu14ycKH
— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) November 30, 2023
They did however have some chances, combining for four scoring chances, two of which were high-danger opportunities, but it is still not the level where they need to be at.
#ALLCAPS Ovechkin chance #2 pic.twitter.com/zNkNdh5j1D
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 30, 2023
But these numbers are just simply not going to cut it for players that are getting paid a lot of money to score at a high rate. Ovechkin is now goalless in four straight games; Wilson does not have a point in three straight and Kuznetsov only has two points (one goal, one assist) in his last five contests.
Notable Numbers and Observations
- Give a lot of credit to video coaches Brett Leonhardt and Emily Engal-Natzke for catching that offsides on the would-be tying goal from Anze Kopitar in the third.
- The Caps had six high danger chances in the second period and 13 scoring chances in the middle frame (5v5).
- The Caps did not have a power play but the penalty kill was outstanding going 3-for-3
- Washington had six giveaways and three takeaways
The Capitals will return to action on Thursday to take on the Anaheim Ducks to conclude the California portion of their western road trip.
By Jacob Cheris
Postgame the Kings coach resisted press attempts to credit a hot goalie and said it was one of those games, the team can’t expect to score 5 goals per game and needs to be able to win the low scoring ones too.
A player did compliment Chucky but said that there were pucks in front for the taking but the Caps D prevented them from getting to them.
Chucky right now is hot so Carbs should play him as much as possible. Forget about him being the ‘backup.’ And the first line does need to change. But kudos to the D.
One way to dump Kuzy might be to trade Kuemper and the receiving team would have to take Kuzy. Kuzy could become an all star, but just don’t see it happening with the Caps so there is a possible upside for a team in desperate need for a goalie.
Better to trade Kuemper and Mantha.
Why would anyone want Kuemper? He’s a mediocre goalie, coasting on a Cup win, and overpaid, to boot. Could fetch a middle rounds draft pick, like a 4th or 5th rounder, at best. Probably it’d be the other way around: trade Kuz, and require the other team to take Kuemper, as the thrown-in.
Same reason NFL teams go for overpriced QBs. Hope springs eternal that on your team, in your system, with your head coach, magic will happen.
I’d be delighted to dump Kuemper, but I think we’re stuck with him. Is any team that already has goaltending problems willing to take on a contract for 3 1/2 more years, in the hope that he’ll regain that “magic”? If it was this year, and one more year, I could see it, but 3 1/2 years is mighty long, for a roll of the dice.
Goalies do get injured, enter the player assistance program, etc. I could see a team going after a Cup winner if their injured goalie is on last year and uncertain about their backup or pipeline.
Nah, they’d go after someone with less term. There’s more than Kuemper available. Columbus has three goalies. Merzilikins, Tarasov, and Martin. If it wasn’t for the term, you’d probably be right. But all things are not equal.
You could be right. I have learned that no matter the sport I can’t predict what General Managers will do.
They have a tendency to be stupid, don’t they? If one is dumb enough to pick up Kuemper, with that term, I’ll buy you a Coke.
I would like to see the Caps add a top 6 F and a top 4 D… I would trade Kutzy for Tavares which would give the Leafs cap space… Flames have 2 big D available… Canucks may move Kuzmenko… I would target Ari, Minny and even CBJ…
Wait till free agency. We could have about $12-15 million to spend. Lindholm, and Andersson, or Hanifin would look good in red, white and blue.
Sorry, thought Andersson was UFA. Put Tanev in there instead.
Mantha seems to be settled