Ryan Leonard’s red-hot play continued in the Washington Capitals’ 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
The 21-year-old extended his goal-scoring streak to three games and his point streak to five games (4g, 1a) in the win. Both of those marks are new career-bests for Leonard, who now has 35 points (14g, 21a) in 60 games in his rookie campaign.
Leonard’s lone point in the win, the game-tying goal, came at 2:14 of the second period.
After making a takeaway in the defensive zone on Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley, Leonard raced down the ice unimpeded until the top of the right faceoff circle in Buffalo’s zone on a two-on-one. Noticing Aliaksei Protas was sealed off, Leonard called his own number and rifled a wrister past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen‘s blocker.
“Kid can shoot the hockey puck,” Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “I think we’re finding that out. He’s an elite shooter, and I know I’ve said it before, but he’s going to score a heck of a lot of goals in this league. That’s a goal scorer’s goal right there.”
“Yeah, thought their D was a little lackadaisical with that first pass,” Leonard told Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken during intermission. “I kind of anticipated that and just beat the defenseman to the puck and just tried to execute, give ourselves a chance in this game.”
Leonard’s 14 goals in 60 games this season are the most since Nicklas Backstrom scored 14 goals in 82 games 18 years ago during the 2007-08 campaign. Backstrom finished that season with 69 total points, which is the second-best mark in franchise history behind only Alex Ovechkin (106).
Among NHL rookies this season, Leonard is now tied in goals (14) with Boston’s Fraser Minten and Montreal’s Ivan Demidov. His 35 points rank fourth behind only Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke (51), Demidov (51), and New York’s Matthew Schaefer (47).
Leonard’s 35 points rank him 17th among all-time Capitals rookies. He is on pace to finish the year with 44 points, which would take him past names like John Carlson (37), Evgeny Kuznetsov (37), and Michal Pivonka (43) and into the top 10.
