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Top 3 impact Capitals to watch against Flames

No lineup changes at morning skate per Bailey Johnson of the Post

By Michael Marzzacco |
Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals
Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals / Derek Cain/GettyImages
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Alright let's ride with what we've got all hands on deck Washington Capitals fans. Here are your top 3 players who need to make an impact tonight. If they do so, they end this trip with a successful two pionts including six straight to vault themselves into playoff contention.

#3 Charlie Lindgren

Charlie Lindgren has been simply unstoppable this month and over his last five starts has posted a record of 4-1-0 with a 1.20 goals against average and a .959 save percentage. He gets the start in goal tonight once again.

Among goaltenders with 35 or more games played this season, Lindgren ranks eigthth in save percentage at .914 and 11th in goals against average. He recorded his fourth shutout of the season on March 7 with a 39 save performance at Pittsburgh and it marked the most he made in a shutout effort and the third highest single game total of his career.

Lindgren has four shutouts on the year which is tied for the fifth most in the NHL. His shutout over the Pens marked his 14th win of the season which passed last year for a new single season career high. Glad he's still here and so are the glass half full fans.

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals / Derek Cain/GettyImages

#2 Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin scored the game winner on Saturday night for his 19th goal of the season. He has potted 11 goals in his last 20 games and recorded 30 points in his last 30 games with 13 goals and 17 assists. Ovi is currenlty on pace for 23 goals. He needs 53 to tie Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history.

Ovechkin can become the fifth player in NHL history to reach the 20 goal mark 19 times and only the third to record 19 straight 20 goal seasons. Gordie Howe had 22 while Brendan Shannahan had 19. Ovechkin already is only player in league history with 18 sraight at least 20 goal seasons from the start of his career.

Ovechkin needs to average 25 goals per season during the next two seasons to pass Gretzky. Ovechkin has scored 25 or more goals in 17 of his 18 NHL seasons with the shortened 2021 campaign being the only season he did not reach the 25 goal mark.

Ovechkin recently passed Mark Recchi (1,533) for the 14th most points in NHL history. He needs just three more assists from passing Sergei Fedorov (696) for the second most assists by a Russian born player.

Ivan Miroshnichenko, Washington Capitals
Ivan Miroshnichenko, Washington Capitals / Kirk Irwin/GettyImages

#1 Ivan Miroshnichenko

Ivan Miroshnichenko is an incredible story from the 2022 Draft as he fell into the Caps lap. He had a battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma just two short years ago. Now that he beat it he has finally seen NHL ice and it has paid dividends for both himself and the Capitals.

He recorded his first career assist on Saturday and the 20 year old has registered three points with two goals and one assist in his last six games. The first rounder at 20th overall scored his first NHL goal on March 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He made his NHL debut on Dec. 20 against the New York Islanders and has appeared in 10 games with the Capitals this season. He has alsao recorded 25 poionts in 47 games with nine goals and 16 assists in his first season in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.

Miroshnichenko leads Bears rookies in goals, asissts, and points and ranks sixth among all Hershey skaters in assists. He also has a plus 15 plus minus rating which is fourth on the Bears who lead the AHL in wins and points.

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