Ryan Lindgren speaks to his older brother Charlie almost every day.
There, however, is a mutual gag order on that exercise until further notice … further notice being whenever the Rangers’ opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Capitals, which begins Sunday afternoon at the Garden, is over.
Charlie Lindgren, Washington’s 30-year-old goaltender, is standing in the way of the lofty aspirations of the Rangers, who are fresh off winning the Presidents’ Trophy and have realistic hopes of ending their 30-year Stanley Cup drought.
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“We speak all the time,” Ryan, the Rangers defenseman, said after practice on Thursday. “I texted him after Tuesday’s game to say, ‘Congratulations,’ and we said we’ll talk after the series.
There won’t be any communication during it, but we’ll talk afterward.”
The Capitals, thanks very much in part to Charlie Lindgren, made a mad 11th-hour dash into the final playoff spot, securing the postseason berth and playoff matchup against the Rangers with a win over the Flyers on Tuesday night.
“Pretty cool and pretty weird,” is how Ryan described facing his bother in the playoffs.
“It’s probably a lot of fun for them and a lot of stress for their parents,’’ Lindgren’s Rangers teammate Alexis Lafreniere said.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said he “can’t imagine the level of emotions’’ that Ryan will be feeling as he faces his brother, older by four years, adding, “I feel for him and his family. It’ll be emotional, it’ll be intense and I’m sure it’ll be something that I hope they look back on and say, ‘Wow, that was pretty crazy.’”
On Thursday, Charlie Lindgren told reporters that Ryan texted him after the win over the Flyers to say, “Nice job. I’ll talk to you after Round 1,’’ adding, “That’s about all the talking that I think we’ll do.”
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“We’re wired the same that way. We’re very much mission-focused. I know he’s focused on that Ranger group over there and I’m focused on this Capitals team here. The rest of the stuff, in my mind, is outside noise.”
Charlie Lindgren has some experience in net against Ryan and the Rangers this year.
He started against them three times, winning two of those games.
His 4-0 shutout on Dec. 9 was the first time he and Ryan played against each other in the NHL.
“If he scored on me, that would probably be the death of me, I think,” Charlie told reporters in advance of that game. “That’s that not a joke. That would torment me.”
The result of that game was a mere momentary torment for Ryan Lindgren and the Rangers, who, of course, would recover and close out the best regular season in franchise history.
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Now, the Rangers must make sure Charlie Lindgren doesn’t torment them when it counts most — in this playoff series in which all the pressure is on them.
“I have a lot of love for my brother, a lot of respect for the way he plays the game,’’ Charlie said. “My parents and my brother and my grandpa, everyone’s extremely excited. But I don’t want to lose focus. It’s not me versus my brother; it’s the Capitals versus the Rangers. I don’t want to make it about anything else.’’
Ryan Lindgren sounded much the same as his older brother on Thursday.
When playfully asked how badly he’d like to score on his brother, he was all business, saying, “I’m not too worried about that. I’m worried about winning first and foremost. All that matters is the wins.’’
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, who coached Charlie in Washington last year, called the sibling showdown “a cool thing that doesn’t happen all the time.’’
“They’re both great human beings who come from a great family and both are competitive as well,’’ Laviolette said. “You can tell by working with them that their compete level is really high.’’
Unlike Ryan, who’s been a starter for the Rangers since his second season (2019-20), Charlie was a late bloomer, toiling as a little-used backup for six years before getting to Washington last season, when he went 13-11-3.
This season, he’s gone 25-16-7 and has been at his best of late.
“I don’t know [Charlie] personally, but knowing what [Ryan] is like he works for everything,’’ Trouba said. “That’s what it seems like [Charlie’s] road has been. He’s a guy that doesn’t quit, gives it his all and, yeah, he’s had some great games against us. So, it’ll be interesting.’’
Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller said he trained with both Lindgrens in the summer and called them “both unreal people and very competitive.’’
“It should be a fun matchup for those two,’’ Miller said. “[Charlie] is a good goalie. He’s shown what he can do. He has that same competitive drive that you see here in New York with Ryan. I think runs deep in that family.’’
