Charlie Lindgren 2023-24 Report Card

We have one last player left to grade on the Washington Capitals and that's none other than Charlie Lindgren. The lefty has been excellent and he went from an elite backup to the guy for Game 1 of the playoffs and it was quite the roller coaster of a journey.

The early goings and the Linsanity run after

26-13-11-3 the previous season was a good start and a good case as to why he's elite. We got our first look on opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. While the Caps got dominated, Lindgren would come on in relief to weather the Penguins storm, who had a game earlier than the Caps did so advantage them.

Then from November fourth through the 18th, Lindgren went undefeated. He downed teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets twice, the Vegas Golden Knights and even the NewJersey Devils on the road. It was an integral part of keeping the Caps in the wild card race before their December struggles.

Even in those holiday struggles, Lindgren held it down. That included a win in Los Angeles then a Saturday matinee win over Peter Laviolette's New York Rangers. The Lindgren express continued as he picked up a win in Columbus just days prior to the holiday break.

On January 13 just days after Max Pacioretty talked about not taking things for granted, he won again over the Laviolette Rangers. Then five days later got the win over his ex team that drafted him, the St. Louis Blues.

In February the Caps had a big natonal TV game in Boston and he and his left glove Josie pitched a shutout there with 18 stops on the Bruins. Then he picked up two straight wins over the Devils on home ice and then again in Tampa Bay over the Bolts.

When March kicked in and the trade deadline was looming the optimists wanted Lindgren in net more often and rightfully so. A Friday night win on home ice over the Flyers will do that. Then on trade deadline eve, the Caps may or may not have finished the Penguins once and for all. Actually they did, and we can thank Chuck for that. A 39 save shutout and a 6-0 win. Contributions up and down the lineup.

The Linsanity run for Lindgren continued as from that Penguins game, Lindgren went 12-6-2 with three shutouts in those 20 games to catapult the Capitals back into the playoffs.

Final grade A+: Lindgren proved himself and he's going to get a loud roar on opening night.