Home / News / John Carlson tallies a goal and assist in his return to Capitals: ‘I haven’t been nervous for a game like that in a long time’

John Carlson tallies a goal and assist in his return to Capitals: ‘I haven’t been nervous for a game like that in a long time’

By Ian Oland

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March 24, 2023 12:50 am

John Carlson didn’t have to wait long to get back onto the scoresheet.

Scoring a goal and an assist, Carlson put up a two-point night in the Capitals’ 6-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night.

The game marked Carlson’s triumphant return to NHL action, following a long recovery after being felled by a Brenden Dillon slap shot on December 23. Carlson suffered a fractured skull and severed temporal artery that forced him out three months of games during a long recovery.

“I haven’t been nervous for a game like that in a long time,” Carlson said after Thursday’s win. “It was nice to work through that.”

Carlson received a hero’s welcome back from his teammates, including a raucous reception in the tunnel for pregame warmups.

The rearguard received a massive reception from the Capital One Arena crowd, with head coach Peter Laviolette putting him into the starting lineup.

The Caps entertainment crew saluted John on the jumbotron as well during the first TV timeout.

“It was nice, the crowd was real nice,” Carlson said. “That obviously is a big boost for anybody no matter what you’re going through. But certainly coming back, it’s special to get that extra bump.”

Getting Carlson back in the lineup was particularly motivating for Capitals center Dylan Strome, who had a front row seat to his teammate’s injury.

“Obviously it’s scary,” Strome said. “I was standing right beside him when it happened, never seen blood come out of someone that quick. You never want to see that, especially to your teammate and your brother out there.”

Carlson was aggressive in his return to the ice, jumping on a loose puck and springing himself on a semi-breakaway in the first period. He later received a secondary assist on a Nicklas Backstrom power-play goal in the second period.

In the third period, Carlson scored his first goal since the December 3 game against the Calgary Flames. During an early-period Capitals power play, Carlson flicked a shot from the point that ricocheted off a Blackhawks penalty killer to beat Anton Khudobin.

The Capitals would go on to win 6-1 as Alex Ovechkin capped the night off with a breakaway goal, his 821st career tally.

“I think as a team we played a good game,” Carlson said. “Some jump, we got some real nice plays by everyone tonight. I think anytime you come back you want to win, thats the most important thing. So yeah, I’m excited.”

Carlson led the team with six total shot attempts at five-on-five and nine overall at all strengths. When he was on the ice, the Capitals dominated in possession, leading in 5v5 shot attempts 15-8, scoring chances 11-4, and high-danger chances 4-2.

Though that didn’t mean Carlson didn’t struggle at times getting his footing back.

“I don’t know, probably better than I thought but still not very good,” Carlson said. “I think there’s a lot of plays there, that even the simplest of plays sometimes are the ones that kind of sneak up on you. Also they kind of make you feel like crap more because you know how simple or easy they are. Obviously I wasn’t expecting to play a perfect game, no one ever does, but it was nice to be back under fire.

“The first shift, the puck came around and I had to poke check and it kind of came up, so that was probably not the most ideal of starts that you would want,” Carlson said. “Definitely feel a little wild.”

Carlson was eased back into the lineup by Laviolette, who gave his number-one defenseman 20:01 of ice time, with none on the penalty kill.

“I don’t think he looked tired,” Laviolette said. “I think he’s worked extremely hard to get to this point. Him and the strength coaches did a great job of putting him in a position where he could be successful. You could just tell he was ready. In the last two or three weeks in practice, he was arguably our best practice player. We just couldn’t play him until we made sure that everything was good and the boxes were checked and healthy, we got a clean bill of health. He entered into a game I think in really good shape, and from there he had a big impact in the game.”

“He’s a true #1 defenseman and we missed him out there,” Strome added. “You see the plays he makes in our own zone and the offensive zone. I think he moves the puck and jumps up in the rush quick. You can’t underestimate the #1 defenseman aspect and he definitely is that.”

Headline photo: @pennybacker/IG