On Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals narrowly defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in an exciting game that will be remembered for a peculiar incident involving Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren. While attempting to clear the puck around the boards behind his net, Lindgren inadvertently shot it into his own goal, giving Tampa Bay a 4-3 advantage. This fluke goal was credited to Brayden Point, marking his 15th of the season. Despite this odd turn of events, the Capitals clinched the win with a goal from John Carlson just three minutes later, followed by a late power-play goal from Tom Wilson, who tallied his second point of the evening.
For Washington, the scoring was led by Andrew Mangiapane, Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas, John Carlson, and Wilson, with both Strome and Protas contributing assists alongside Wilson, who ultimately scored the decisive goal.
Meanwhile, Brayden Point recorded a hat trick for the Lightning, aided in part by Lindgren’s mishap.
Lindgren’s performance was a mix of highs and lows; while the own goal was unfortunate, he made 24 saves, including several crucial ones. Had the Capitals lost, the narrative could have been quite different, but with the victory secured, it turned into a stressful night without lasting repercussions.
The Capitals’ power play has been on fire, scoring eight goals in their last nine games, and this marked their eighth comeback win of the season, tying them with Vegas and Winnipeg for the most in the league.
Washington will look to continue this momentum against the New York Islanders on Friday.
This article originally appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated.
