Facts and Figures: Pastrnak, Carlson enjoy historic October
Bruins forward, Capitals defenseman end month first, second in NHL scoring
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
David Pastrnak and John Carlson are probably sorry to see their teams play for the last time in October. The Boston Bruins forward and Washington Capitals defenseman ended the month as the top two scorers in the NHL.
Pastrnak scored his NHL-leading 12th goal in Boston's 5-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden, giving him a League-high 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 12 games. All have come during Pastrnak's 10-game point streak, the fourth time in his NHL career he's had a streak reach double figures. Pastrnak is the third player in Bruins history to score at least 12 goals in October, joining Phil Esposito in 1973 (14 goals in 10 games) and Charlie Simmer in 1985 (12 goals in 10 games). He also matched Esposito for the Bruins' single-season record for points in the month set in 1973.
The 23-year-old became the sixth player to make his NHL debut in the past 30 years and have at least four double-figure point streaks before turning 24.
Linemate Brad Marchand had an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games (21 points; seven goals, 14 assists) and has at least one assist in each of his past 10 games. Marchand and Pastrnak are the first set of Boston teammates with simultaneous point streaks of at least 10 games since Adam Oates (21 games) and Ray Bourque (13) each had double-digit runs that overlapped for 13 games from March 11 to April 4, 1993.
Carlson ends record-setting month in Capitals OT win
Carlson scored two goals for the Capitals in their 4-3 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena to finish October with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 13 games. That's the most points by a Capitals defenseman in any calendar month, passing the previous high of 22 set by Sergei Gonchar in January 2000 (10 goals, 12 assists in 14 games).
The only defenseman in NHL history with more points than Carlson in October is Al MacInnis of the Calgary Flames, who had 25 (eight goals, 17 assists in 13 games played in 1990.
Carlson matched the Capitals record for most points by any skater in October, equaling the mark set by Alex Ovechkin in 2009 (23 points; 14 goals, nine assists in 13 games). The two goals gave him 426 points (97 goals, 329 assists) in 702 NHL games, tying him with Kevin Hatcher (149 goals 277 assists in 685 games played) for third place on Washington's scoring list among defensemen.
Ovechkin passes Robitaille on NHL goals list
Ovechkin also made history Tuesday. He scored the tying goal in the third period and the game-winner at 4:00 of overtime, giving him 669 in his NHL career. He passed Luc Robitaille (668) for 12th place on the NHL list and for the most among players listed as a left wing.
The OT goal was Ovechkin's 23rd in the regular season, extending his own NHL record. It was his 35th point in OT (23 goals, 12 assists), tying him with Jaromir Jagr (19 goals, 16 assists) for second in NHL history behind Patrik Elias (37 points; 16 goals, 21 assists). He also had his 135th multigoal game in the regular season, tying Mike Gartner for seventh. Marcel Dionne (139) is sixth.
The Capitals, who are off until Nov. 1, finished October 7-1-1 on the road. Washington became the second team in NHL history to have seven road wins in October, joining the New Jersey Devils in 2009 (7-0-0).
Crosby powers Penguins past Flyers
Sidney Crosby, Dominik Kahun and Dominik Simon each had a goal and two assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena. Crosby boosted his regular-season totals against the Flyers to 102 points (42 goals, 60 assists) in 68 games. The Flyers are the second team Crosby has reached 100 points against; he has 113 (36 goals, 77 assists) in 66 games against the New York Islanders.
Crosby is the second player in Penguins history to have at least 100 points in the regular season against more than one opponent. He joins Mario Lemieux, who did it against five different teams, including the Flyers. Lemieux is the all-time leader in points against the Flyers with 124 (51 goals, 73 assists) in 71 games. Crosby is fourth behind Jagr (120 points; 47 goals, 73 assists) in 101 games) and Bryan Trottier (117 points; 44 goals, 73 assists) in 110 games.
With three points, Crosby has 1,233 (451 goals, 782 assists) in his NHL career. He moved past Phil Housley (1,232 points; 338 goals, 894 assists) for 39th place on the NHL scoring list. Crosby also helped the Penguins become the first NHL team to score at least seven goals in at least four games in October since 1992, when Pittsburgh also did it four times. The NHL record is seven set by the Edmonton Oilers in October 1984.