With Matt Niskanen’s Injury, John Carlson Leads League in Ice Time

Posted on November 7, 2017 by
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Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Capitals got a big win over the Coyotes on Monday night for their third win in a row, their longest winning streak of this young season. The hero in that game was John Carlson as he scored an overtime goal to give Washington the 3-2 win. For Carlson, it was his first goal of the season. 

On a Capitals team filled with young defensemen, Carlson was once in their shoes. In the 2009-10 season, he was recalled a few times including the playoffs where he scored the game-tying goal in Game 2 of the first round series against the Montreal Canadiens. Now in his eighth season with the Capitals, Carlson is getting a lot of playing time.

Carlson leads both the Capitals and the NHL in average ice time per game among skaters, clocking in at 27:14 per 60-minutes.

Carlson’s second longest average ice time came during the 2015-16 season, when he registered an average 23:42 per game. That’s nearly a four-minute difference. Carlson clocked in at 27:41 in Monday’s game, ending his time with this game-winning goal.

Carlson’s goal was his 14th game-winning goal of his career and his second to come in overtime.

“We’re just gonna find our way and figure out what’s working for us and we gotta put a couple of these (wins together). We didn’t start (the game) the way we wanted to, we got a lot of work to do. We just gotta keep finding ways to win,” said Carlson.

Carlson and the Capitals look to make it four in a row tonight against the Sabres. The Caps are looking to reverse a trend in back-to-back affairs. All three times they’ve faced a back-to-back, Washington won the first game but dropped the second one. Their hoping the fourth time is the charm.

By Michael Marzzacco

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