Lindgren ‘ready’ to start Game 4 of Eastern 1st Round for Capitals if needed

MONTREAL -- Charlie Lindgren feels he's been working all season for a moment like the one he could get for the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, truTV, MNMT, MAX).

Lindgren will be the Capitals’ starting goalie if Logan Thompson is unable to recover in time from the injury he sustained during a 6-3 loss in Game 3 on Friday.

Washington leads the best-of-7 series 2-1.

"I always feel ready," Lindgren said. "Every day I've kept on working to get to moments like this, to potentially play in moments like this. You think about 10-year-old Charlie what he would do to be in a situation like this."

How about Charlie from ages 23-27? That's when Lindgren was bouncing between playing for the Canadiens and Laval, their American Hockey League affiliate.

There's no way he thought of this possibility at that time, being the starting goalie for the road team in a playoff game in Montreal.

Lindgren got his start in the NHL with the Canadiens and started 24 games for them between 2016-21 before signing with the St. Louis Blues in 2021 and then landing in Washington in 2022.

"I definitely have got a background with this organization (Montreal) even though there's been a lot of turnover since I left," Lindgren said. "But at the end of the day, it's the Stanley cup Playoffs. It's playoff hockey -- I don't care who you're playing against you're always going to get up for it. It's always exciting. It's always fun to be a part of."

Thompson was injured with 6:37 remaining in Game 3, when teammate Dylan Strome barreled into him after Juraj Slafkovsky scored to make it 5-3 Montreal.

"I obviously didn't see 'LT,' " Strome said. "Never a good feeling when you hit your goalie or you run into your goalie or you hurt a teammate."

Thompson appeared to struggle putting any weight on his left leg and nearly fell over when he tried to stand on his own before Strome, forward Brandon Duhaime and Capitals head athletic trainer Jaso Serbus helped him off the ice.

"I think that was just a balance thing," Strome said of when Thompson almost fell down. "I'm not sure. I haven't talked to him too much about it.

“It's never a good scenario when a guy gets hit like that and then kind of stumbles, but I think it was just a balance thing."

Lindgren replaced Thompson and stopped four of five shots in what became a 6-3 loss.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery didn't have an update on Thompson's status when asked about him Saturday, but Lindgren and Clay Stevenson, here as Washington's third goalie, were the two netminders on the ice for the optional practice.

"It'll be next man up for us and we know 'Chucky' Lindgren," Carbery said. "He's done a great job. He's a great goaltender, so yeah, there's no concern there of our group having a letdown or from our staff having a lack of confidence. We've got two great guys."

Lindgren isn't your typical backup.

He appeared in 39 games in the regular season, starting 38. He went 20-14-3 with a 2.73 goals-against average, an .896 save percentage and one shutout.

Thompson won the No. 1 job in the second half of the season, but Lindgren had a major impact on Washington (51-22-9) finishing first in the Eastern Conference with 111 points.

Last season, Lindgren was arguably the biggest reason the Capitals qualified for the playoffs.

He went 25-16-7 with a 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage in 50 games, including 48 starts. Washington made the playoffs as the second wild card from the East despite a minus-37 goal differential.

Lindgren started all four playoff games against the New York Rangers. The Capitals got swept and he allowed 14 goals on 103 shots (3.58 GAA, .864 save percentage), but it was his first NHL playoff experience.

"Charlie has proven it to all of us in here over the last two years, three years that he's very capable of handling himself in the playoffs, in the regular season," Strome said. "He's a great goalie. Like 'Ovi' (Alex Ovechkin) said last night, we've got two really good goalies and I think it would be business as usual (if Lindgren starts), but we'll see what happens."

Lindgren said getting into Game 3, even for only the final 6:37 of the third, will benefit him if he starts Game 4.

It was arguably the loudest building he’s ever played in, and the expectation is it will be that way again, if not even louder, Sunday.

"You want to know what you're getting into and coming to Montreal you had a pretty good idea of what you're going to get, and they didn't disappoint," Lindgren said. "Just getting the feel, getting the taste -- any time you play playoff hockey, the level is going to be ratcheted up a few gears. You can certainly feel that. Last year, I got a taste playing at Madison Square Garden, what that was like. The Bell Centre is probably another level to that."

He said he will also be able to pull from his experience playing in the playoffs against the Rangers last season to help him if he plays Sunday. He cited the pace of play and the hostile environment as the two biggest elements of his experience that will help him.

"It's a really cool situation or place to be in," Lindgren said. "I definitely don't take it for granted."