![\"Charlie](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AE7B7VGQWJKAFDO54NIEF7PHKU.jpg\")
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Charlie Lindgren<\/strong>\u00a0faced an old friend on Monday night, taking the net against the LA Kings opposite former goaltending partner Darcy Kuemper. The pair had played two seasons together from 2022 to 2024 before the Capitals traded Kuemper to California.<\/p>\n With the Caps looking to snap a two-game losing streak, Lindgren came up big against the Kings, stopping 30 of 31 shots in the 2-1 win. Not only did the game give the Capitals some much-needed standings points, but it also gave Lindgren his first victory in over a month.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for Chuckie to step in, that\u2019s a really tough team to play against, right?\u201d Nic Dowd said postgame. \u201cThey do all the little things. They get to the net. It\u2019s tough for him to see pucks. He played really, really well and made some big saves. It kept us in that game when we weren\u2019t foot on the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n Lindgren had overtaken Kuemper for the starter\u2019s role before the trade, but the pair both took different paths in the 2024-25 season. While Lindgren eventually lost his starting role to new acquisition Logan Thompson, Kuemper thrived in LA, putting up a .922 save percentage and 2.02 goals-against average on the way to third place in Vezina Trophy voting. Still, the two have remained close from opposite ends of the continent.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Darcy,\u201d Lindgren said postgame. \u201cI think all you guys know that. I mean, he was such a pro to me, and still one of my really good friends today\u2026So it\u2019s fun playing against friends like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Head coach Spencer Carbery, too, rejected the idea that Lindgren had more to play for against his old partner.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it could have been against anyone,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously he knows who was going in net at the other end, but I don\u2019t think it mattered one iota who was going up against him. He just wanted to play well, and he did exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n What did matter to Lindgren, however, was proving himself after a rocky start to the season. Lindgren had won just one of his first five starts and averaged 3.59 goals against per game, playing largely on the second half of back-to-backs.<\/p>\n Much of the blame rested on the skaters in front of him. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren had stopped 1.7 goals above expected in those games, and players took responsibility for letting him down in net. So when Lindgren got a rested start against the Kings, both he and the team were determined to make the most of it.<\/p>\n \u201cChuckie\u2019s a guy that, for some reason, we just haven\u2019t been able to get the job done with him in net,\u201d Matt Roy said. \u201cBut the guy works harder than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys love him, and they just care so much about Chuckie,\u201d Carbery. \u201cAs hard as it is for Chuckie when he\u2019s in games and we\u2019re not playing well in front of him and they\u2019re ending up in the back of the net, the guys feel that too, and they take that to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n LA has been one of the strongest road teams in the league, putting up a record of 9-1-2 in their first 12 away games, but the Capitals started strong, with former King Matt Roy scoring less than four minutes into the first. That early success helped Lindgren gain confidence as the night went on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt helps to get off to a good start,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like my first few games probably haven\u2019t been that way. I\u2019ve been taking ourselves a whole one nothing, two nothing, three nothing. Felt good to go to a lead tonight and credit to the guys in front of me for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that Lindgren wasn\u2019t tested, even in the first period. One of his biggest stops of the night when he stopped Alex Laferriere on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the opening frame.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at the first period, I mean, they didn\u2019t have a ton of rubber at the net,\u201d Lindgren said. But maybe the ones they had were maybe above average quality. So that\u2019s my job, to obviously keep the puck out of the net\u2026thankful that I was able to do that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuemper, too, put up an excellent showing against his former team, a fact Lindgren made sure to highlight postgame, pointing to what looked like a surefire goal from Tom Wilson at the netfront that Kuemper had managed to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a heck of a game,\u201d Lindgren said. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re up 2-0 and I was just dying for us to get to three. And he did a good job. I don\u2019t even know \u2014 that one in the third on Willy \u2014 I don\u2019t know if he saved that or what. But he played heck of a game<\/p>\n But except for a single goal from Anze Kopitar, Lindgren stood tall to hold onto the lead, even as the Capitals faltered. He went on to make a series of critical saves in the final 20 minutes, both during an LA power play and at six-on-five to secure the win.<\/p>\n Lindgren is unlikely to retake his former starting role, especially given another stellar start to the season from Thompson. But competing against Kuemper once again, albeit on opposite sides of the ice this time, Lindgren proved he can still come out on top.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is “frustrated” with quarterback Caleb Williams, one NFL insider believes.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0are standing tall after their\u00a019-17 win over\u00a0the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0on Sunday, November 16, on the road, but that doesn\u2019t mean head coach Ben Johnson thinks the team is where they need to be yet. Sure, the Bears were able to\u00a0hold off a late rally\u00a0from the Vikings and come back with a field goal at the buzzer for a win, but Johnson doesn\u2019t want\u00a0things to be so close\u00a0next time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very reminiscent of the first game where we ended up having a lead and then allowed it to get interesting there,\u201d\u00a0Johnson said after the win. \u201cWe felt like we didn\u2019t make enough plays there in the first game to earn that victory, and this one we did. I do feel like that shows growth as a football team.\u201d<\/p>\n So, the win shows their growth on the field, but there still may be some tension inside the Chicago Bears\u2019 camp, according to a Bears insider. This is Johnson\u2019s first year with the team, so it makes sense that there will be some hiccups as he gets his footing with a team that\u2019s worked under other coaches. But, if this gritty win over the Vikings shows anything, it shows that Johnson is making strides early on in his\u00a0NFL\u00a0head coaching career.<\/p>\n Even though the Bears are riding high and No. 1 in the NFC North after their win over the Vikings, some in the NFL are still questioning if Johnson and quarterback\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0are working well together. In a Monday, November 17, piece for The Athletic,\u00a0Mike Sando discusses his conversation with\u00a0an opposing defensive coach who implied that Williams\u2019 style of playing doesn\u2019t work well with Johnson\u2019s style of coaching. That defensive coach also suggested that Johnson is still looking to mold and develop the signal-caller.<\/p>\n In Sando\u2019s report, he says the defensive coach stated, \u201cTo be honest with you, I think Ben is frustrated with him. Caleb doesn\u2019t play on time and doesn\u2019t do the things that allow that offense to get to the next level that Ben is used to.\u201d<\/p>\n The coach adds, \u201cBen was able to scheme up max-protection things for Jared (Goff) in Detroit and run guys open. This guy can\u2019t do that, so now it is all (off-schedule) ball, which is uncontrollable for a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n So, is there trouble in football paradise between Johnson and Williams? Maybe. But, that really doesn\u2019t matter if the Bears keep winning. Besides, Williams is performing much better than he did during the 2024-25 season, and he\u2019s already showing the growth that Chicago needs.<\/p>\n The Chicago Bears\u2019 win over the Vikings was too close for comfort, but it sure made for exciting football.\u00a0Windy City led 16-3 going into the fourth quarter\u00a0of the game, but Minnesota rallied for two late touchdowns to give the Vikings a 17-16 lead with less than a minute left on the clock. But, it wasn\u2019t anything the Bears couldn\u2019t handle. Kicker Cairo Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal to give the Bears a\u00a0small but definitive 19-17 win\u00a0over the Vikings.<\/p>\n Now, the Bears are No. 1 team in the\u00a0NFC North\u00a0with a\u00a07-3 record\u00a0for the season. The\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0are No. 2 with a 6-3-1 record and the\u00a0Detroit Lions are No. 3 at 6-4, with the Minnesota Vikings in the last spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Charlie Lindgren\u00a0faced an old friend on Monday night, taking the net against the LA Kings opposite former goaltending partner Darcy Kuemper. The pair had played two seasons together from 2022 to 2024…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t