The Washington Capitals’ 6-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was dreadful, but John Carlson accomplished some incredible history in the process.
The Capitals’ defenseman recorded his 500th career assist on Dylan Strome’s first-period power-play goal.
That's his team-leading 14th goal…
LET'S VOTE STROME HOME#NHLAllStarVote | Dylan Strome pic.twitter.com/VSJrwHIYIe
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 6, 2024
Carlson was credited with the secondary assist after passing the puck cross-ice to Ovi in his office. The Capitals’ captain fed it to Stome for a quick chip shot to beat Hurricanes’ goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov and give the Capitals an early 2-0 advantage. The assist was Carlson’s 19th of the season, the most of any Capital.
Carlson is now only the sixth active defenseman and the 34th rearguard in NHL history to hit the 500-assist milestone. His 500th assist also leaves him third overall in franchise history behind only Nicklas Backstrom (762) and Alex Ovechkin (680).
With his assist on the Capitals' second goal, John Carlson becomes the 34th defenseman in NHL history to reach the 500-assist mark #NHLAllStarVote pic.twitter.com/NOXedmqezz
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 6, 2024
These are the current and former rearguards Carlson joins on the list.
| Defenseman | Assists | Games Played |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Bourque | 1,169 | 1,612 |
| Paul Coffey | 1,135 | 1,409 |
| Al MacInnis | 934 | 1,416 |
| Larry Murphy | 929 | 1,615 |
| Phil Housley | 894 | 1,495 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | 878 | 1,564 |
| Brian Leetch | 781 | 1,205 |
| Chris Chelios | 763 | 1,651 |
| Larry Robinson | 750 | 1,384 |
| Denis Potvin | 742 | 1,060 |
| Scott Stevens | 712 | 1,635 |
| Brad Park | 683 | 1,113 |
| Bobby Orr | 645 | 657 |
| Gary Suter | 641 | 1,145 |
| Borje Salming | 637 | 1,148 |
| Sergei Zubov | 619 | 1,068 |
| Brent Burns | 608 | 1,372 |
| Erik Karlsson | 603 | 957 |
| Sergei Gonchar | 591 | 1,301 |
| Doug Wilson | 590 | 1,024 |
| Dave Babych | 581 | 1,195 |
| Scott Niedermayer | 568 | 1,263 |
| Ryan Suter | 567 | 1,399 |
| Kris Letang | 558 | 1,042 |
| Mark Howe | 545 | 929 |
| Victor Hedman | 542 | 1,012 |
| Chris Pronger | 541 | 1,167 |
| Duncan Keith | 540 | 1,256 |
| Rob Blake | 537 | 1,270 |
| Steve Duchesne | 525 | 1,113 |
| Mathieu Schneider | 520 | 1,289 |
| Teppo Numminen | 520 | 1,372 |
| Keith Yandle | 516 | 1,109 |
| John Carlson | 500 | 964 |
After the Strome goal, the Capitals surrendered six unanswered tallies to the Hurricanes, including five in the third period. They have now lost six of their last seven games. Carlson expressed his frustration with the loss, saying how he would have appreciated the achievement more had the game resulted in a win.
“Yeah, it’s always nice to reach a milestone,” Carlson stated postgame. “I think it hangs over everyone’s head a lot more than anyone would want. It’s a proud accomplishment of mine, but I would have liked to celebrate it.”
Carlson, 33, is playing in his 15th season with the Capitals. His next big milestone will be the 1,000-game milestone if he can remain healthy the rest of the year. Counting tonight, he has suited up in 964 games, all with the Capitals.
