Photo: Reuters
Defenseman John Carlson recorded a career-high four-assist game in the Washington Capitals‘ 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon, which is tied for the second-most in a game by a defenseman in team history behind Scott Stevens (five: 12/6/1987). Three of his assists were primary ones.
His 32 assists this season lead the Capitals and are second among all NHL defensemen (New York Rangers’ Adam Fox: 35) while his 42 points lead all defensemen. Since 2017-18, Carlson’s 255 points (202 assists) lead all NHL defensemen.
Saturday’s game marked the ninth time in his career that he posted at least three assists in a game. The 31-year-old has recorded seven assists in his last three games.
Carlson set captain Alex Ovechkin up for a one-timer from the top of the left dot from up top to help get the Capitals rolling on the power play 3:38 into Saturday’s game.
Carlson rimmed the puck around the boards off of the half-wall and it went straight to defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who blasted a one past the blocker of Lyon to give the Capitals the lead back just 33 seconds into the second period to make it 2-1.
Carlson set up Ovechkin from the top again after getting the puck off of a faceoff and Ovechkin uncorked a one-timer four seconds into a power-play to retake one-goal the lead for the Capitals at 6:15 of the second after the Flyers tied it.
Carlson got credit for a fourth assist after blasting the puck and missing the net, which ultimately led to a no-look spin-o-rama pass by forward Tom Wilson from the half-wall to find center Evgeny Kuznetsov in front of the net. Kuznetsov deeked and tucked the puck in to make it 4-2 with 4:58 left in the second.
You can watch all of Carlson’s helpers from Saturday’s win below:
Stick taps to 7️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/HATaqMPq0S
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 17, 2021
By Harrison Brown
