It doesn’t get much worse than this… With the score tied 3-3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals, goalie Charlie Lindgren made an embarrassing mistake – leading to one of the worst own goals we’ve ever seen.
The already infamous own goal came at a crucial point in the game, and Charlie Lindgren will have a tough time blaming it on anyone else. Lindgren captured a loose puck in the left faceoff circle, and everyone expected him to clear the puck, without any trouble, on his backhand.
But instead, he fired the puck straight into his own net. The own goal gave the Lightning a one-goal lead with just over half the third period remaining. The Washington Capitals, however, managed to tie the game 4-4, and with 16:34 played, Tom Wilson scored the game-winner on the power play. And we bet no one was happier about it than Charlie Lindgren.
Charlie Lindgren crazy own goal
Per Bailey Johnson at The Washington Post, Lindgren walked straight into the media scrum postgame and said, “Who’s got the million-dollar question?”
Naturally, Lindgren admitted he’s never made a worse mistake in his career.
“It was obviously the worst mistake I’ve probably ever made in my life, in terms of on-ice [mistakes],” Lindgren said postgame. “I know better than that. I can’t go backhand there. I don’t know what I was thinking. I think I was just — I don’t know.
“When I made that big mistake, the boys, I mean, we all pretty much laughed it off. Even me, I chucked that puck out of the rink, and I kind of chuckled to myself,” Lindgren continued. “It’s one of those moments where it’s like — you’ve obviously got two choices in that moment. You can either go in your shell or you can go out and battle.”
Lindgren praised his teammates
After his mistake, Lindgren bounced back and stopped all three shots he faced. Meanwhile, his teammates made sure Lindgren’s error wouldn’t cost them the game.
“I think it’s character,” Lindgren said. “I’ve been saying it all year: we’ve got such a great group. It starts at the top with the coaching staff and it trickles down to our veteran players, our leadership group. And everyone, I can say wholeheartedly, everyone in this team is bought in.
“I felt like we didn’t have any panic. We went down then, 4-3. We could have, if we weren’t a close team, we could have been frustrated and kind of packed it in, mailed it in. And I knew there was no chance. This team is, we’re too good, too good of guys in the locker room here. And found a way to get it done. Honestly, it was a pretty sweet victory. I’m not going to lie.”
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