Photo: @Capitals

Capitals defenseman John Carlson scored two goals in Tuesday night’s 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames. With the goals, Carlson extends his ‘consecutive games with points’ streak to eight games. Carlson now has 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists) in just 11 games played so far this season (1.82 points-per-game average) and continues to lead the league in scoring.

By reaching the 20-point mark before November 1, Carlson becomes just the fourth defenseman ever to tally 20 points in October. (The Capitals have three more games remaining this month).

John Carlson scores an empty net goal, his second goal of the night, to make the score 5-2. He becomes the fourth different defenseman in NHL history to register 20 or more in a single month of October.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 23, 2019

Additionally, Carlson is just the third different defenseman in NHL history to lead the League in scoring outright through the first 20 days of the season. The others include:

• Baldy Northcott (1932-33 w/ MMR)
• Bobby Orr (1969-70 and 1974-75 w/ BOS).

“We’ve been talking a lot about John, but it’s well deserved,” Reirden said. “He plays the toughest minutes and plays the most minutes, and it’s good to see him get a few bounces go his way.”

Carlson has reached 20 points in the second-fewest number of games for a defenseman in league history (Paul Coffey – 10 games into the Penguins’ 1988-89). The Capitals single-season points record for a defenseman is 81 (Larry Murphy).

Carlson’s race to 20 points is the fastest in franchise history, beating Alex Ovechkin by a game (09-10).

“I just said this morning, Johnny for Norris; that is a hashtag right now,” Alex Ovechkin said. “Let’s keep it moving, right?”

Carlson and the Capitals are back in action on Thursday when they face the Oilers in Edmonton. Puck drop is 9:00 PM ET.

By Jon Sorensen