EditorsNote: Corrects to Carlson's 13th multi-point game in graf 7; corrects a to "an" in last graf; other minor edits
John Carlson scored two goals, and Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves to lead the visiting Washington Capitals to their fifth straight victory, 3-1 over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Tom Wilson also scored an empty-net goal for Washington, which improved to an NHL-best 13-2-1 on the road. The Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals now have 47 points after 30 games, a franchise record.
Carlson has 42 points (11 goals, 31 assists) on the season. He joins Calgary's Al MacInnis (1990-91, 11 goals, 31 assists) as the only defensemen since 1979-80 to record 42 points in their first 30 games of a season.
Blake Lizotte scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick had 19 saves for Los Angeles, which lost for just the third time in its past 10 home games (7-2-1).
Carlson, coming off his sixth three-point game of the season and having scored the game-winning goal on Tuesday night in a 5-2 victory at San Jose, scored two goals in the first 13:27 on Wednesday to stake Washington to an early 2-0 lead.
Carlson's first goal came when drove in on the right wing and snapped a wrist shot from above the right circle that clanged in off the far post at 4:36. It was his 100th career tally.
Less than nine minutes later, he scored No. 101 when he took a cross-ice pass from T.J. Oshie while cutting in from the bottom of the right circle, deked Quick down to the ice and then wrapped the puck around the right post from behind the goal line. It marked the 13th multi-point game of the season for Carlson.
Lizotte cut it to 2-1 at the 3:20 mark of the third period. He picked up a puck behind the net that Samsonov had mishandled and then tucked it inside the right post for his third goal of the season.
Los Angeles nearly tied it with 6:25 to go when Anze Kopitar rifled a shot from the high slot that caromed off the crossbar.
The Kings pulled Quick for with 2:04 left, and the Capitals sealed the win when Wilson scooped up a rebound of an Alex Iafallo shot in front of the net and then fired it down the ice with 1:19 to go. It was Wilson's 11th goal of the season.
--Field Level Media
