Capitals’ Carlson has had his shots
TAMPA, Fla. — With 33.5 seconds left in overtime, the Washington Capitals swarmed around in the offensive zone on a four-on-three power play, moving the puck from one spot to the next to get the look they wanted. Defenseman John Carlson finally fired a slap shot, and the puck was met by Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop rather than the back of the net.
That was Carlson’s sixth shot of the game, and the 2-1 shootout loss Saturday to the Lightning marked the 23rd game he has been held without a goal, starting this season in one of the worst droughts of his career. But while Carlson is at least a little disheartened about his lack of goal production, he has tried to remind himself that with the secondmost shots on the team in all situations, it’s not for a lack of trying.
“There’s been times where I’ve caused myself to go down the wrong path, but at the end of the day, I think when I watch the games and I look over stuff — and sure, I can be a lot better in certain areas — but I feel I’m still playing a good brand of hockey,” Carlson said. “So, I think that sometimes that’s the frustration of getting the chances and putting yourself in position to succeed, and just not doing it. But it happens. I’ve gone on streaks before. You know, it’s time to end it though, that’s for sure.”
In an injury-shortened season, Carlson scored eight goals and 31 assists in 56 games in 2015-16. Through 23 games this season, Carlson has nine assists, but no goals, despite tallying 57 shots on goal. He’s on pace for more shots per game than he had last season, just not rewarded for that yet. Carlson logs the most minutes on the team with 23:12 per game, quarterbacking the top power-play unit.
Capitals Coach Barry Trotz has attributed at least some of his slow scoring start to getting “nicked up” playing for Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey before the season. The longer the drought has gone on, the more potential there is for overthinking, Trotz said. That can be the difference between getting a shot on net and aiming for a precise spot just to miss the net by a foot.
“Carly is such a talent, and I think this one of the few times in Carly’s career, which is sort of good for Carly in fact, it’s not coming really easy for him,” Trotz said. “He got off to a slow start, a little bit nicked up through the World Cup and the start of our season, and now he’s playing catchup.”