This weekend turned out to be a successful one for the Washington Capitals. They swept both New York teams in
This weekend turned out to be a successful one for the Washington Capitals. They swept both New York teams in a back-to-back.
On Sunday night, the Capitals escaped past the New York Rangers 1-0 at Madison Square Garden. The victory came one day after Washington defeated the Islanders 4-2 at UBS Arena.
The clear MVP of this game was Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren. He secured his 10th career shutout by stopping all 35 shots that went his way.
“Credit to the guys in front of me tonight,” said Lindgren. “I thought they did a terrific job.”
Anthony Beauvillier scored the only goal in the contest by tipping in an Alex Ovechkin shot in the second period.
With the win, the Capitals are now 2-1-0 three games into the 2025-26 NHL season.
Capitals Analysis
Before Sunday’s game, Washington head coach Spencer Carbery said he was going to make some forward line adjustments. Here is what they looked like against the Rangers:
Sonny Milano – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Aliaksei Protas – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier – Connor McMichael – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Justin Sourdif
As you can see, Milano made his season debut on the top line alongside Ovechkin and Strome. McMichael was moved to the 3C with Hendrix Lapierre out of the lineup.
The new lines worked really well as each trio had good chemistry and generated a lot of pressure on the Rangers. Washington finished with 21 shots towards NYR goaltender Jonathan Quick and laid out 26 hits.
Beauvillier eventually joined Ovechkin and Strome in the second period, as the line generated the game’s only tally. The Great 8 attempted a shot that was tipped in by Beauvillier past Quick.
Surprisingly, there weren’t too many penalties in the contest, as the Capitals went on the power play once and the penalty kill twice. Unfortunately, the man advantage didn’t do them any favors as they are now 0-for-8 on the power play this season.
Dubois ended up leaving the contest due to an undisclosed injury. He finished with 15:32 of ice time over 18 shifts.
Capitals Report Card
Team: A
While there wasn’t a whole lot of scoring, the team did enough on the ice to secure the win. Carbery’s tweaked lineups did just the trick. Milano made his return to the Capitals by skating with Ovechkin and Strome on the top line. The third line trio of Beauvillier-McMichael-Wilson had a lot of stability.
Charlie Lindgren: A+
What more can be said about Chuckie? The netminder stopped all 35 shots to secure his 10th career shutout. Lindgren made some impressive saves like when he robbed Mika Zibanejad on a 2-on-1. The Capitals already look promising with their two goalies in Lindgren and Logan Thompson.
Anthony Beauvillier: A
Beauvillier started out the contest on the third line alongside McMichael and Leonard. Together the trio found chemistry and moved the puck well. However, he really struck gold with Ovechkin and Strome when he scored the lone goal of the game.
Declan Chisholm: A
Chisholm made his official season debut which turned out to be his 100th career game. The defenseman also filled in for Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was a healthy scratch. Chisholm was paired with fellow blueliner Jakob Chychrun, as he was physical and made smart decisions with the puck. The 25-year-old also recorded an assist in his Capitals debut.
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