Darcy Kuemper will be a major strength against Penguins

The Washington Capitals take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. For more info on how to watch and bet on the game, click here. For the top 3 key players to watch, click here. For more info on the Stadium Series jerseys, click here. Read on to learn why Darcy Kuemper will be crucial to the game tonight.

Darcy Kuemper leads the league with five shutouts, recording that fifth shutout on Jan. 19 against the Arizona Coyotes. He recorded that fifth shutout in his 30th start of the season. That marks the fewest games to record five shutouts in a single season in franchise history.

His five shutouts this season match a career high. He had five in 2018-19 with the Arizona Coyotes and last season with the Colorado Avalanche. It also marked Kuemper’s 30th career shutout, which ranks 11th among active goaltenders.

In 32 games this season, Kuemper has a record of 14-13-4 with a 2.57 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Kuemper has posted a record of 9-4-3 with four shutouts, a 2.34 goals against average and a .923 save percentage in his last 17 starts dating back to Nov. 23.

Among goaltenders with at least 30 starts, Kuemper ranks sixth in the NHL in goals against average (2.57) and eighth in save percentage (.916) through games played Jan. 24.

Since 2017-18 Kuemper ranks first in save percentage at .921, second in goals against average with 2.45 and fourth in shutouts with 23.

Kuemper will get the start tonight in goal. He looks to bounce back from his last two games. He was pulled in the Caps blowout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

I trust Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren to backstop the Caps compared to two young and unproven goalies in Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov. So far they’ve done good and even in the Caps struggles it’s clearly not their fault.

You can catch the game tonight at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington.