Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images
John Carlson may wish the month of October never ends. Or he may continue his hot streak right into the holidays, or for the rest of the season. Whatever the case, Carlson has had one of the best opening months to a hockey season in the history of the NHL.
Carlson scored two more goals Tuesday night versus the Maple Leafs in Toronto. He now has 23 points for the month, the second most by a defender, all-time.
Carlson tied the game 1-1 at 10:47 of the first frame with a rocket blast from the right circle. Alex Ovechkin(6) and Nicklas Backstrom (8) we’re credited with the assists.
Carlson evens the score with a snipe upstairs #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/q7rleBnO3W
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) October 29, 2019
Early in the second period, Carlson would score the Capitals second goal of the game, assisted once again by Ovechkin (7) and Backstrom (9), at 7:59 of the middle frame.
This is getting ridiculous…#ALLCAPS #Johnny4Norris pic.twitter.com/TyIGKAUYZr
— Washington 👻 Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2019
Carlson now has 23 points (7g, 16a) so far in October, which trails only Al MacInnis for most points all-time by a defenseman in the month of October. The all-time scoring list for defensemen in the month of October:
- Al MacInnis, 1990-91: 8-17–25 in 13 games
- John Carlson, 2019-20: 7-16–23 in 14 games
- Paul Coffey, 1988-89: 3-18–21 in 11 games
- Brian Leetch, 1990-91: 5-16–21 in 14 games
- Paul Coffey, 1981-82: 7-13–20 in 13 games
Additionally, Carlson has now tied Kevin Hatcher for third most points by a defenseman in Capitals franchise history.
With his 426th career point (97g, 329a), John Carlson has tied Kevin Hatcher for the third-most points in franchise history by a defenseman.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 30, 2019
As for the assists on Carlson’s goals, Nicklas Backstrom is now only two points shy of passing Swedish great Peter Forsberg for seventh most points all-time by a Swedish-born player.
With an assist on Carlson’s goal, Nicklas Backstrom (233g, 650a, 883p) is three points shy of passing Peter Forsberg (885) for the seventh most points all-time by a Swedish-born player.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 30, 2019
ByJon Sorensen
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