Logan Thompson starts in goal for the Capitals against the Rangers

Spencer Carbery is going back to Logan Thompson tonight, handing him the crease against a Rangers team that hasn't lost in four games.

Sammi Silber reported the start Friday morning. It's the first of four meetings between these two teams this season, and puck drop in Washington is set for 7 p.m.

Thompson has appeared in all three Capitals games so far. He owns two of the team's wins and a .921 save percentage.

Here's the wrinkle. Charlie Lindgren has actually stopped pucks at a better clip, posting a .931 mark across two appearances.

But Lindgren is still looking for his first win. Two appearances is a coin flip of a sample, and the bench is treating it that way.

It's the right call. You don't pay a goalie $5,850,000 to watch the most dangerous team on the early schedule from the end of the bench.

Think of a closer in baseball. The setup man might own the prettier numbers in April, but when the ninth inning gets tight, the manager hands the ball to the guy he's paying to finish it.

Alexis Lafreniere and the Rangers bring a scoring heater to Washington

The Rangers arrive at 4-1-0 with a +8 goal differential. Their only stumble was a 3-0 loss in Boston on opening night.

Alexis Lafreniere leads the way with three goals and five points. Adam Fox has five assists from the blue line, which tells you how much of the offense runs through him.

Mika Zibanejad also sits at five points. And Eeli Tolvanen has three goals of his own, giving Mike Sullivan scoring that doesn't depend on one line.

Then there's the other crease. Igor Shesterkin carries a .926 save percentage, while Dylan Garand hasn't allowed a goal yet in three appearances.

New York's starter wasn't part of the morning news. Either way, Thompson is facing a club allowing just 1.6 goals per game.

Washington's numbers look fine until you set them next to New York's. The Capitals are 2-1-0 with a +3 differential after a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Alex Tuch has been the finisher. He has three goals, and two of them stood up as game-winners.

Alexander Ovechkin is still hunting. The 41-year-old has one assist through three games and no goals, a stat line that's going to follow him into every postgame scrum until it changes.

There's also some youth pushing the pace. Ryan Leonard has two goals, one on the power play, and 20-year-old Cole Hutson has two points on the back end.

Matt Roy is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, a status worth watching before warmups on a blue line that can't afford many holes against this Rangers attack.

The schedule doesn't ease up afterward. Seattle visits Sunday, then the Capitals head to Carolina on Tuesday.

If Thompson can't slow this Rangers group down tonight, Lindgren's name is going to get a lot louder by the time that road trip starts.

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