"Our team is playing well, so that's what I care about," says Carlson. "It's nice to see the puck do in, always, there is no doubt about that. But whoever is scoring them, it's good for me."
Even Flow - Jakub Vrana scored a pair of goals in Tuesday's win, running his season's total to 14, second on the team to only Alex Ovechkin (20). All 14 of Vrana's goals have been scored at even strength, and only Boston's Brad Marchand and Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl (15 each) have scored more goals at even strength this season.
Vrana now has three multi-goal games this season. Among the 15 players in the league with 14 or more goals this season, Vrana's average ice time of 14:43 is by far the lowest figure of the group. Calgary's James Neal is next closest at 16:34, and Neal has scored 10 of his 14 goals on the power play. The distance between Neal and Vrana in average ice time is greater than the distance between any other two players on that list, which is led by Draisaitl's 22:45 per night.
Bottoms Up - Carl Hagelin returned to the Washington lineup on Tuesday after missing 11 games, and he helped give the Caps' bottom six a boost. Washington's fourth line was terrific in Tuesday's win, but so was Hagelin's line with Travis Boyd and Richard Panik. That unit generated Carlson's game-winner after winning a puck battle in the corner of the San Jose zone, and it could have had two or three other goals as well. Panik hit the crossbar on a great early forechecking chance, and he hit the post early in the second on another opportunity.
Both of Washington's bottom two lines turned in strong possession performances with the Boyd line keeping several shifts alive in the attack zone with good stick detail, forcing San Jose defenders into longer shifts than necessary.
Hathaway scored twice, tallying after Dowd won an offensive zone draw in the first and made a strong wall play, and lighting the lamp again when Dowd forced a turnover on the forecheck early in the second.