For the first time in his 17-season NHL career, John Carlson put on a jersey different than the Washington Capitals.
Carlson suited up for the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday for the first time since being dealt by the Caps at the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6 for two draft picks. The game also marked Carlson’s first since February 5 after rehabbing a lower-body injury for over a month.
“For our team, it’s a big game,” Carlson said ahead of Anaheim’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre, the last on a four-game road trip. “It’s a response game for us to finish the trip right. Obviously, being my first game, I wouldn’t want anything less than that. It’s a big point in the season, and it feels like coming down the stretch, most of the teams we’re going to be playing are kind of jockeying for something, and this will be no different and no different for us as well.”
He later told Victory+’s Alyson Lozoff before puck drop that this is “just an exciting time for me. I think we’ve got a great team. There’s a lot of really top-end talent on this team, and I’m looking forward to playing with them. Just kind of getting myself worked in here.”
The Ducks defeated the Canadiens 4-3, getting two goals from Leo Carlsson (no relation) and single tallies each from Troy Terry and Cutter Gauthier.
While Carlson didn’t register a point on the evening, he did start a scoring play — sending a perfect outlet pass to Terry in the neutral zone — which resulted in Carlsson’s first goal of the night and put the Ducks up 1-0 early.
In total, Carlson had one shot on goal and finished a plus-one. He received 22:59 of ice time, second most on the team behind only Jacob Trouba, and the most shifts with 31.
Carlson spent most of the night at five-on-five skating on a pairing with left-handed shooting defenseman Olen Zellweger. With Carlson on the ice at 5v5, the Ducks saw 60.6 percent of shot attempts and 78.9 percent of expected goals.
“He’s a really good hockey player,” Troy Terry said after the game. “He’s someone that I’ve always just really appreciated how he plays the game. He plays the right way. He’s poised. And he just seems calm, and you could feel that tonight. His first game in there, and the crowd’s going nuts. They’ve had three chances in a row, and you just see him calm the puck down. He just kind of has that effect on us.”
After the game, Carlson was presented the team’s “player of the game” award from Ducks center Tim Washe — a Bombay jacket — a nod to the iconic Mighty Ducks movies.
“Where’s Johnny Baby?” Washe asked before giving Carlson a hug and the jacket.
“I put this on in high school, boys,” Carlson replied. “But, hey, it’s been a real thrill playing with you guys, honestly. You never take anything for granted in this fun group. Thanks for welcoming me, making me feel part of the team right away. And now I get to say let’s get the f*** back to California.”
One other notable part about Carlson’s debut is that the Ducks’ equipment staff tracked down one of Carlson’s vintage buckets in orange ahead of the game: a Bauer 4500. The bucket was discontinued on retail sites years ago, but can be found on third-party reselling sites.
