Charlie Lindgren, Capitals put dent in Red Wings' playoff hopes with 2-1 win

The Wings couldn't solve Lindgren early, and the goaltender seemed to get stronger as the game progressed.

The Capitals were the first to get on the scoreboard in a game that felt early would benefit the team that opened the scoring.

Strome opened the scoring after a long, controlling shift by the Capitals. Washington barely missed on a scoring chances earlier in the shift, the puck going just wide of goaltender Alex Lyon's net on a scramble in front. But Strome eventually got the puck near the dot and whistled a shot past Lyon for his 27th goal at 17:47 of the second period.

Ovechkin then gave the Capitals some cushion. Ovechkin got free on the wing, got to the dot, and sniped Lyon short-side, Ovechkin's 30th goal (the first NHL player in history to record 18 30-goal seasons) with just 7.2 seconds left in the period.

Coach Derek Lalonde talked after the morning skate about how these types of games, the magnitude of them with the season on the line, have been good for the Wings and how well the team has handled them.

"This is great growth for our group," Lalonde said. "This is heavy, and in hockey it's a lot different. You can feel it. There's less ice and every play matters. It's very valuable for the guys and you've seen some guys step up and some guys are still finding their way.

"But for the most part this group has done a pretty good job with it.

"They've done a good job of staying even keel," Lalonde said. "It's hard, everyone talks about how important the actual games are and the growth of this group and some of the young guys, but it's how they handle the ups and downs. Just staying on an even keel, our starts have been great, just focus on the task at hand."

Lalonde feels the Wings have surpassed expectations.

"Most people, if you look back now had us picked seventh in the division and again, it wasn't a knock on us, it was the division and conference (the Wings play in)," Lalonde said. "They've had a belief in themselves, they've battled through lows, and we found a way to fight out of it. We had a stretch last month, but we found a way to fight out of it. There's good will in that, and usually when you keep battling, it comes from the room and that's a good sign.

"I would expect it to continue over the last five games."