Charlie Lindgren exits with injury as Capitals fall to Bruins in final road game

Lindgren exits with injury as Capitals fall to Bruins originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Playing in what was likely his final game of the 2022-23 season, Charlie Lindgren wasn’t going to be cheated Tuesday night.

The Capitals’ goaltender was at the top of his game against the vaunted Boston Bruins, stuffing his highlight reel with acrobatic saves before leaving with an injury in Washington’s 5-2 loss at TD Garden. Lindgren did all he could to keep them in it with 33 saves on 36 chances including one where he stretched out his bare hand for the stop after his losing his glove.

Lindgren was forced to leave the game after landing awkwardly on the ice while sprawling out for a kick save. He immediately grabbed his lower back and rolled over onto his back before meeting with a trainer and skating off under his own power. Should that be it for Lindgren, he’ll finish his first Capitals season 13-11-3 with a .899 save percentage and 3.05 GAA.

Washington kept it close with Boston despite playing without Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Anthony Mantha and Nic Dowd. Their lineup included three call-ups from AHL Hershey in Joe Snively, Beck Malenstyn and Henrik Borgstrom, the last of whom made his Capitals debut by appearing in his first NHL game since April 29, 2022 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Following a scoreless first period, the Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead on power-play goals by left wings Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi in the second. The Capitals needed a quick response to steal some momentum back and they got one from Nick Jensen, who scored his fifth tally of the season just 67 seconds after Bertuzzi’s goal.

The Bruins made it 3-1 with the lone five-on-five goal Lindgren would allow on a wide-open shot by center Tomas Nosek from the slot. A Capitals power play then set the stage for Tom Wilson to get one back as he roofed a rebound past Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark.

However, that would be it for the Capitals after right wing Garnet Hathaway scored against his former team to put them away for good. The Capitals finished with a 17-21-3 record on the road, marking the first time they’ve posted a sub-.500 record away from home since the 2011-12 season.

Washington has just one game remaining: a bout with the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena on Thursday night.