Although it came in a losing effort against the Buffalo Sabres, John Carlson continued making his Hall of Fame case on Monday night, recording his 699th and 700th career NHL points in a 4-3 shootout defeat.
With that, the Stanley Cup champion became just the 31st defenseman in National Hockey League history to reach the 700-point milestone — and the 13th to do it with a single franchise. Carlson is the only blue liner to accomplish the feat with the Washington Capitals.
“Seems like it took a while,” Carlson told reporters afterwards. “But yeah, it’s a big accomplishment, I think personally. Been lucky enough to play on a great team my whole career and with fantastic players. Couldn’t have dreamt of it as a kid, so it’s pretty special.”
Carlson has been a heart and soul player for the Caps since being selected 27th overall by the franchise in the 2008 NHL Draft. The team announced that the 34-year-old would be honored during a pregame ceremony ahead of a clash with the Utah Hockey Club on February 9.
The Natick, Massachusetts native is up to five multi-point games this season, including two against Buffalo. He’s now second among Capitals defensemen in scoring with 26 points in 40 games.
“He’s a guy that puts his head down and goes to work and never is, ‘Woe is me,’” said forward Tom Wilson, who scored two of Washington’s three regulation goals. “He’s just been a horse for us for so long and a leader in this room. Pretty impressive career, what he’s been able to put together, and I know everyone in this room looks up to him. Johnny’s been a guy in Washington for a long time that’s next level. He’s a heck of a player, so he’s going to keep going.”
Although the achievement came in losing fashion, the Capitals are still one of the premier teams in the league through the first half of the 2024-25 campaign.
Capitals surging despite shootout loss to Sabres
After picking up a point on the road in Western New York, Washington is 26-10-4 and first place in the East. Spencer Carbery’s club is just one point back of the Vegas Golden Knights in the President’s Trophy race, and the roster continues to find ways to win prolifically this season.
A big part of that has been Carlson, who missed a big chunk of last year but has been steady on the blue line in the nation’s capital. The American played in his 1,000th game last March, and scored his 150th NHL goal in April. He leads all franchise defensemen in career games played (1,049), assists (546), and points (700).
“Just speaks to another accolade for John and what he’s accomplished in his career,” Carbery said of his top defenseman. “He just keeps stacking those things up for — another credit to how impressive his career has been.”
Carlson and the Capitals will look to get back in the win column when the Vancouver Canucks visit Capital One Arena on Wednesday night. Puck is set to drop just past 7:30 p.m. ET.