Logan Thompson was the first goaltender off the ice at the Washington Capitals’ morning skate on Wednesday. The 27-year-old backstop will get the nod in net from head coach Spencer Carbery against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making him the first of the team’s two netminders to make two straight starts this season.
Until this point, Carbery had given Thompson and Charlie Lindgren a dead-even split in starts, alternating between each goalie every game. When asked if that rotation would continue after practice on Tuesday, he indicated that he might be changing things up.
“That will be a wait-and-see situation,” Carbery said.
“We have a plan for how it’s going to look for the next little bit, so that’ll start with Logan tonight,” he added Wednesday.
Washington plays Thompson’s former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, in Vegas on Sunday. As things stand, Thompson would be set to start that game after requesting and receiving a trade from the Golden Knights this summer.
“I’m not going to tip our hand to lay out a full month of here’s what we have scripted, but we have an in-house plan of how the rotation is going to look, and that’ll start with Logan tonight,” Carbery said.
Thompson has come on very strong in his three November starts, going 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage. He has yet to lose a start this season, becoming the first goaltender in franchise history to win his first seven games with the club.
After a statistically better start to the season than Thompson, Lindgren has given up three goals in each of his last four starts. He has taken all four of the team’s losses this season, including the previous two times he’s taken the cage. He’s posted a 3-4-0 record with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.
The decision to go with Thompson as the hot hand right now is an easy one when you look at each goaltender’s goals saved above expected numbers. Per MoneyPuck, Thompson has stopped 4.9 more goals than expected, ranking 12th in the NHL among goalies with five or more starts. Lindgren is nearly eight goals behind his partner, allowing 3.0 more than expected in his seven starts.
Toronto comes into Wednesday’s outing averaging 2.94 goals per game, the 18th-best mark in the NHL. They were shut out 3-0 by the Ottawa Senators at home on Tuesday and flew to DC on no rest.
