National Hockey League
Washington 6, Ottawa 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, February 26, 2024
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Referees: Mitch Dunning, Jon McIsaac
Linesmen: Andrew Smith, James Tobias
Attendance: 17296

Washington defenseman John Carlson scored on his multi-milestone night and Hendrix Lapierre recorded his first two-goal game as the Capitals beat the visiting Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Monday night.

On a night when Carlson set the Capitals' franchise mark with 984 games played by a defenseman, he also moved into second place on the club's career goals list for defensemen with his 145th during Washington's four-goal first period.

Meanwhile, Lapierre, just recalled from AHL Hershey and with two goals in 25 games earlier this season, scored twice in the second period to help Washington improve to 4-0-1 in its last five games. Aliaksei Protas had a goal and two assists, while Beck Malenstyn had one of each. The Capitals matched their highest-scoring game of the season.

Meanwhile, Shane Pinto and Brady Tkachuk each posted a goal with two assists and Drake Batherson also scored for Ottawa, which entered on a 3-0-1 spurt. The Senators' Anton Forsberg was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 first-period shots.

Washington opened the scoring 6:30 into the game, off a two-on-one, when Anthony Mantha saucered the puck to Protas, who went forehand-backhand to beat Forsberg. Two minutes later, Carlson drove the puck in from a faceoff win.

Ottawa responded when Batherson flipped the puck over a sprawled-out Darcy Kuemper (18 saves) with 9:48 remaining in the first. Roughly 2 1/2 minutes later, the Senators tied it on Pinto's redirection, which was ruled a good goal after review.

Washington, though, scored twice in 14 seconds to regain the lead for good. First came Max Pacioretty's snap shot on the power play with 1:27 remaining in the first. Then off an Ottawa turnover, Malenstyn converted point-blank from the slot.

However, just 1:27 into the second, Tkachuk went five-hole on Kuemper off a two-on-one with Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Capitals, though, responded just 31 seconds later when Lapierre pushed the puck past Joonas Korpisalo (eight saves) amid a mess in front of the Ottawa net. Lapierre then came through off another Washington two-on-one, with Mantha involved again, at the 9:05 mark of the second.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Ottawa   Washington
Shane Pinto 3 Points Aliaksei Protas 3
Shane Pinto 1 Goals Hendrix Lapierre 2
Shane Pinto 2 Assists Aliaksei Protas 2
N/A Power Play Goals John Carlson 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Joonas Korpisalo .800 Save Percentage Darcy Kuemper .857
Joonas Korpisalo 8 Saves Darcy Kuemper 18
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Ottawa 21 3 0-1 1-3 6 27
Washington 20 6 2-3 1-1 2 26
Upcoming Games
  • Washington will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Capitals have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .452 after a loss.
  • Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Senators have a W/L % of .440 after a win and .452 after a loss.