Lindgren brothers to have communication breakdown during Rangers-Capitals series

Brothers Charlie and Ryan Lindgren usually talk or text each other all the time. But there will be no communication between them for at least the next 10 days or so. That's because they will be facing each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Charlie, 30, is the No. 1 goaltender for the Washington Capitals, who will play the New York Rangers and his defenseman brother Ryan, 26, in an Eastern Conference first-round series that begins on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers are the conference's No. 1 seed and won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the NHL's best record while the eighth-seeded Capitals needed a win in their last regular-season game to grab the second wild-card spot.

After Washington's 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that put the Capitals into the playoffs on Tuesday night, Charlie got a text from Ryan that — according to Charlie — read: "Nice Job. Great job on the back-to-back. I'll talk to you after Round One."

Charlie replied: "Sounds good."

"It's obviously exciting," said Charlie via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. "I have a lot of love for my brother, a lot of respect for the way he plays the game. My parents, my brother and my grandpa, everyone's extremely excited. But I don't was to lose focus. It's not me vs. my brother. It's the Capitals vs. the Rangers."

They will be the 36th set of brothers to face each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs, according to NHL Stats & Information, and only the fourth pair in which one was a goalie and the other a skater. The last was Phil and Tony Esposito, who played 13 playoff games against each other from 1970 to 1975.

"Obviously, it's a little weird," Ryan said. "But I think once you get into it, you're playing hockey and it's playoffs. I'm excited. I'm sure he's excited. It should be a good battle."

The rest of the family will be represented by different members in each city. Father Bob and brother Andrew are planning on traveling from Minnesota to the first two games in New York. Their mother, Jennifer, and 84-year-old grandfather, Ed Fleetham, aim to be at Games 3 and 4 at Washington's Capital One Arena.