Capitals Goalie Suffers Head Injury

The Washington Capitals may be without a key goalie after leaving the game with an apparent head injury.

Jan 6, 2025; Buffalo, New York, USA; Washington Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren (79) looks for the puck during the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images / Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

The Washington Capitals suffered an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens but not before seeing one of their top netminders go down with an injury. Under a minute into the second period, Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren took a hit to the head, eventually knocking him out of the game.

The Capitals ruled Lindgren out for the remainder of the contest with an upper-body injury. Following the overtime loss, head coach Spencer Carbery didn’t have much of an update, just saying Lindgren was still being evaluated.

INJURY UPDATE: #Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren sustained an upper body injury and will not return to tonight’s game.

— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) January 11, 2025

Lindgren hadn’t allowed a goal at the time of the injury, making nine saves on nine shots. The injury occurred after making a save on Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who was then pushed into the netminder.

Suzuki caught Lindgren’s head and neck area while falling to the ice. Lindgren fell backward in clear pain for a few moments.

Lindgren stayed in the game for another few minutes before he was pulled for Logan Thompson.

The Canadiens went on to score three goals against Thompson, including the overtime game-winner from Suzuki.

The Capitals hope to know more about Lindgren’s status soon, as they leave for a quick, one-game roundtrip to take on the Nashville Predators in Nashville tonight.

Lindgren and Thompson have been splitting time evenly between the pipes for the Capitals. Lindgren holds a 10-8-2 record in 21 games played with a .900 save percentage and 2.65 goals against average.

Thompson has played in 22 games with a 17-2-3 record with a .917 save percentage and 2.38 goals against average.

With their next game coming on such short notice, plus travel involved, it’s likely the Capitals will call a goalie up from the American Hockey League. At least for the day to let Lindgren continue his evaluation and recover from his injury back home.

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