High-scoring Carlson propels Capitals past Maple Leafs
WASHINGTON — Once again, the Washington Capitals have a player among the scoring leaders in the NHL. Just not the one you might expect.
John Carlson had a goal and two assists, giving the defenseman 14 points, as the Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 Wednesday night for their first home win of the season.
“Just getting lucky I think,” said Carlson, on pace to double his career high of 70 points from a season ago. “Guys are making some good plays to me, and the guys I’m passing to are scoring right now.”
Capitals teammate Alex Ovechkin, a three-time MVP who has paced the league in points (2007-08) and goals (eight times) during his illustrious career, garners much of the attention on offense in Washington. But it’s been Carlson at the forefront early this season. His 11 assists were also tops in the NHL, and they’ve come while the club awaits the return of Michael Kempny from offseason hamstring surgery.
“He’s playing really well, and that’s something that we talked about this summer with the departure of some other guys,” coach Todd Reirden said. “He’s been a big reason why we’ve been able to get through this time without Kempny.”
Nicklas Backstrom added a goal and an assist, and Jakub Vrana and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington, which lost its first three home games for the first time since October 1983.
BLUE JACKETS 3, STARS 2: In Columbus, Ohio, Sonny Milano and Alexander Wennberg scored for the first time this season to lift Columbus over Dallas.
Columbus (3-3-0) won back-to-back games and pulled to .500 with its eighth consecutive victory over the Stars (1-6-1). Joonis Korpisalo turned away 30 shots to net his third win.
Ben Bishop made 32 saves for Dallas, which has lost four straight.
PENGUINS 3, AVALANCHE 2 (OT): In Pittsburgh, Brandon Tanev scored a shorthanded goal in overtime as Pittsburgh beat Colorado, the first loss of the season for the Avalanche.
Tanev, Pittsburgh’s biggest free-agent pickup in the offseason, scored his first
goal with the Penguins at 3:57 of overtime. He swooped into the zone short-handed and threw a shot on goal that went between Philipp Grubauer’s pads. Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog knocked the puck into the net, giving Pittsburgh its fourth straight win.
OILERS 6, FLYERS 3: In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists as Edmonton walloped Philadelphia.
The Flyers scored twice in the final five minutes to cut into a five-goal deficit.
DUCKS 5, SABRES 2: In Anaheim, Calif., the host Ducks erased a 2-0 lead en route to beating Buffalo.
Ryan Getzlaf scored the go-ahead goal midway in the second period.