The Capitals blueliner was transparent when asked about the team being on the wrong side of challenges this season.
WASHINGTON — When John Carlson finished celebrating his 500th NHL assist and a potential game-winning goal by Alex Ovechkin on Saturday against the Nashville Predators, he heard the officials announce that the tally would be up for review due to a Toronto situation room-initiated challenge for goaltender interference. He wasn't sweating it, though.
After all, as Carlson believed, the goal was as good as it gets, with the milestone and Ovechkin's signature making it even sweeter.
"I thought there was zero chance they were gonna call it back," Carlson told The Hockey News in an exclusive 1-on-1 on Monday.
Seconds later, what Carlson figured was impossible had happened. After a lengthy video review, the referee skated to center ice and waved off the goal, citing that Nic Dowd's brush with Nashville goaltender Yaroslav Askarov while setting a screen in front impaired the netminder's ability to move freely in his crease.
The goal was taken off the board. Time was added back to the clock. And more painfully for Carlson, the puck the team had scooped up from the back of the net that was being taped up for him no longer held significance.
All the while, Carlson was — and still is, 48 hours later — a disbeliever. The blueliner cited Askarov's positioning, saying that it was the goaltender and not Dowd that initiated that contact.
"I thought it was a goal for sure," he said. "If anything, (Askarov) puts himself out of position more. That's his fault. You can choose which way to look around somebody. That's my opinion."
It marked the eighth goal this season that has been waved off or called back by the referees, video review, coach's challenges or the situation room. The team has lost a league-leading five challenges against this season, as well as 10 total challenges. Washington is 1-2 with regard to situation room challenges in 2023-24.
For Carlson and the Capitals, who are experiencing their own scoring woes, it just adds salt to the wound.
"Yeah, especially when we haven't been doing it that much, too, it's frustrating," Carlson said of goals being waved off. "When they do get overturned, the offside and stuff is simple. But I don't know. You're always looking at it one way. All the other ones I thought there was a chance (they'd be called back) for sure. But that one, when I saw it, I thought there was zero chance."