The Washington Capitals will have a new-look goaltending tandem for at least the next week.
Charlie Lindgren was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Clay Stevenson was then recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Sunday morning. Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed that the team expects Lindgren to miss at least the seven required days needed to be placed on IR.
“We’ll see once he gets back on the ice, but put him on the IR so he’ll miss the seven days at the bare minimum, and then we’ll see just how he progresses,” Carbery said.
The Capitals faced the Anaheim Ducks earlier this week without Lindgren on their bench. The 31-year-old netminder was a late scratch, forcing the Caps to use practice netminder Parker Milner as an emergency backup to Logan Thompson.
So far this season, Lindgren is 5-3-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average, a .883 save percentage, and one shutout. He won his last start against the San Jose Sharks, making 23 saves on 24 shots faced in the Capitals’ 7-1 victory. Lindgren will be eligible to come off IR on December 12, a day before the team travels north to play the Winnipeg Jets.
Thompson will get the team’s next game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and continue shouldering most of the playing time with Lindgren out of action. However, Carbery said he believes Stevenson will likely see his second career NHL game during this stint with the Capitals.
“Things have changed, right? With that plan, with Chuckie going down, so now we just have to pivot a little bit,” Carbery said. “It doesn’t mean that Clay’s not going to get into the net because I’m not going to guarantee it, but I’m assuming he’s going to get in at some point.”
Stevenson made his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins last April, making 33 saves in a 5-2 loss. This season in the AHL, Stevenson is 7-4-0 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.