Capitals' Carlson off to historic start

John Carlson has exploded out of the gate for the Washington Capitals.

The star defenseman collected three assists in a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers on Friday night, pushing his season totals to 14 helpers and 17 points in nine games.

Carlson notched three points in three of those contests, and only two blue-liners in NHL history have produced more three-point games than Carlson has through the first nine games.

Paul Coffey and Paul Reinhart both authored four of them during the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, respectively. The Capitals rearguard is tied with Bobby Orr, Gaston Gingras, and Harry Cameron on that list.

With his second assist Friday, Carlson became the first defenseman in franchise history to record at least 15 points in the month of October.

His 16th point gave him the most by a Capitals blue-liner in any calendar month since Mike Green notched 20 in February 2009.

Carlson's latest three-point effort temporarily vaulted him into a tie for first with Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid in the NHL's points race. McDavid was also in action Friday night and will still have a game in hand after his contest.