Top 3 Capitals studs against Kraken
A much needed win. Here were the heroes.
The Washington Capitals are right back in the thick of the playoff race. No I am not exaggerating. The NHL standings don't lie and a big win over the Seattle Kraken to snap a two game skid didn't hurt either. Here were the highlights.
Now for the first time in a minute here are the top 3 studs from last night:
#3 Charlie Lindgren
Charlie Lindgren aka Chuck had another good night. He stopped all 18 shots at even strength and five out of six shots on the power play with a total of 23 on the night with a .958 save percentage. The defense in front of Lindgren shored up the win. Welcome back Martin Fehervary indeed.
Lindgren has won three of his last five games and his record improves to 16-11-5 in 34 games played with a 2.66 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. He also looked up at the scoreboard and understood the assignment.
Charlie Lindgren said he caught a glimpse of the scores on the video board at Climate Pledge Arena and knew the Caps had gotten help around the league tonight — and almost said something to the team at 2nd intermission. #ALLCAPS head to Vancouver just one point out.
— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) March 15, 2024
The Caps are now just ONE point back of the New York Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings for that second and final playoff spot. None of them play tonight as it's all just west coast matchups. On Saturday the Red Wings host the Sabres at 12:30 p.m. on NHL Network while you can catch the Islanders and Senators on ESPN plus at the same time.
#2 T.J. Oshie
The hometown hero, no pun intended as T.J. Oshie is from the area and loves his Seahawks who just got Sam Howell at quarterback, gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead by taking advantage of one of five giveaways. This victim was the goalie Joey Daccord as former Capital Philipp Grubauer was backing up.
Also among ghosts of Capitals past was journeyman Andre Burakovsky. He skated 12:38 and finished with a -1. He also had three shots and two penalty minutes. Oshie on the other hand scored on the only shot he took which came on the power play as he finished with a plus one while skating 17:36. Advantage retirement home there.
Oshie's PPG was the only Caps power play goal of the night and the only goal Chuck allowed came on one of three power play opportunities from the opposition. It was a penalty kill that allowed six shots while the Caps put up just three shots on the other end.
The Caps also had the edge in takeaways 9-7 and one takeaway made the Kraken pay dearly. Before we get to that part let's congratulate Oshie on 999 games played with the big 1,000 coming tomorrow night in Vancouver.
#1 Connor McMichael
The hero and number one stud of the game is a young buck by the name of Connor McMichael and who we in the DMV call the Best Connor Mc in sports. He swiped the puck and raced down the ice for a breakaway goal. If the Caps were to win some games when they matter more if they reach that far, the Caps need to do exactly what they did last night to beat the good teams in a stacked eastern conference.
Should also note that both giveaways came from Burkie.
The Kraken are loaded with talent in just their third year of existence. This was the first time ever the Caps won at Climate Pledge Arena. It was two turnovers the Caps took advantage of that did the Kraken in on their home ice.
This was the second straight night McMichael scored as he also dented the twine in a 7-2 setback to the Edmonton Oilers the night before. He now has 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points. We should also mention that he just turned 23 as he was born on Jan. 15, 2001.
So yeah it was Oshie and McMichael who provided the scoring while Chuck took care of the rest. Overall it was a big win.