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

DETROIT — Making the playoffs for the Red Wings has just become a little more difficult.

Maybe a lot. We'll see in the next several days, but Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Washington certainly isn't going to help matters.

Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 43 saves spurring the victory, as the Wings outshot the Capitals, 44-23, but were continually frustrated by Lindgren.

Patrick Kane scored with 1.1 seconds left to prevent the Wings' shutout.

Dylan Strome (27th goal, 17 minutes 47 seconds) and Alex Ovechkin (30th, 19:52) scored late in the second period, breaking open the game.

With the victory, Washington moved into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 85 points. The Capitals moved past the Wings and idle Pittsburgh, who both have 84 points.

This was billed as the biggest game at Little Caesars Arena since the Wings moved into the new rink in 2017. The Wings have missed the playoffs the last seven seasons. Wings players talked after the morning skate about the excitement building the past few weeks.

"It's where we've wanted to get to, to get a chance to play these meaningful games, and the ultimate goal is get into the playoffs," forward Robby Fabbri said. "We all know what is at stake. Everyone is having fun in these moments and games and it's nice to be in this one."

Even with the loss, the Wings are still in the hunt.

"It's kind of in our hands playing against teams that we are right there with us," said Alex DeBrincat after the morning skate. "We have to have the mentality of one game at a time and not worrying about the big picture right now."

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."