The Washington Capitals were without veteran defenseman John Carlson against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Carlson missed out on the 3-2 shootout loss due to an upper-body injury, but he appears likely to return to the team’s lineup against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
Carlson, 35, participated in the Capitals’ morning skate ahead of the game, which he did not do against New Jersey. Head coach Spencer Carbery still ruled his top blueliner a game-time decision, though, when asked about his status during a pregame press conference at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
“He’ll be game-time tonight,” Carbery said.
If Carlson does indeed dress, he’ll play in his 1,106th career game for the Capitals. The total would move him ahead of franchise legend Nicklas Backstrom for the second most games played in team history, behind just captain Alex Ovechkin.
Washington Capitals all-time games played leaders
| Player | GP |
|---|---|
| Alex Ovechkin | 1,509 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 1,105 |
| John Carlson | 1,105 |
| Calle Johansson | 983 |
| Peter Bondra | 961 |
| Kelly Miller | 940 |
| Dale Hunter | 872 |
| Tom Wilson | 853 |
| Michal Pivonka | 825 |
| Mike Gartner | 758 |
According to the team, the Capitals will become the fourth franchise to have their top two leaders in games played all-time be active players, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin), Florida Panthers (Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad), and Vegas Golden Knights (Brayden McNabb, William Karlsson).
Carlson’s 1,105 games played with the Capitals are the 15th most by a defenseman with a single franchise in NHL history. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, goals (160), assists (579), and points (739) among rearguards.
Carlson is currently on a five-game point streak, tallying an assist in 22:55 of total ice time against the Florida Panthers in his last game. He is averaging 23:22 of ice time per game this season, which ranks second on the team, behind Jakob Chychrun (23:36).
In 17 games this season, Carlson has recorded 14 points (4g, 10a). He has 14 points (5g, 9a) in 22 career games against the Kings.
