Capitals to welcome back part of goalie tandem

The Capitals will welcome back part of their goalie tandem Saturday against Pittsburgh.  The team announced that they had activated Charlie Lindgren off injured reserve and assigned Hunter Shepard to AHL Hershey.

The move effectively reverses the one made last weekend.  Lindgren had just suffered an upper-body injury at that time, and the placement meant he’d miss at least a week.  Fortunately for Washington, he’ll only miss the minimum amount of time, although he’ll serve as the backup and not the starter Saturday.

Lindgren has been in a platoon with Logan Thompson this season and had a decent first half.  Through his first 21 starts, he has a 2.65 GAA (down slightly from last year) and a .900 SV%, which are better than the NHL average.  The 31-year-old is in the final season of his contract, carrying a bargain $1.1M price tag.  He’s well-positioned to more than double that on the open market this summer, barring a significant collapse in the second half.

As for Shepard, he didn’t see any action from Washington while on recall, with Thompson shouldering the workload in Lindgren’s absence.  The 29-year-old made his first NHL appearances last season, getting into four games while winning the Most Outstanding Goaltender award in the AHL. However, he didn’t play to that same level in the first half of this season, as Shepard has a 2.68 GAA and a .898 SV% in 23 outings with the Bears so far.