WASHINGTON — In the first period of Tuesday's win over the Seattle Kraken, a deceptive shot from rookie Ryan Leonard pinged off the crossbar. It didn't go in, but it sent a loud — audibly and symbolically — message to the Washington Capitals: something's coming.

Leonard came roaring back in the second, and on the first shift, pounced on a feed from Aliaksei Protas in the slot and made no mistake sniping it past Matt Murray for his second goal in as many games. He's the youngest player since Nicklas Backstrom in 2008 to get goals in back-to-back outings.

He continues to do (really) elite things… those are unique to not his skill set, but to just how good of a hockey player that he is at this level," coach Spencer Carbery said. "He can do things that other guys can’t.”

Through the first seven games of the season, Leonard, playing primarily on the third line, has three goals, one being a power-play goal and another being a game-winner. He leads the team with 2.08 goals per 60 while averaging 12:21 minutes a night. His 11 shots at 5-on-5 rank sixth on the team, and his 16 shots at all strengths are tied for the fourth-most. And even better, his expected goals-for percentage of 3.84 at 5-on-5 leads all NHL rookies.

For the 20-year-old, he's admittedly feeling more confident and freer on the ice to try new things, and it shows in the way he moves and shoots the puck.

Takeaways: Leonard, Bottom-6 Lifts Capitals Past Kraken The Capitals bounced back nicely for a solid win over the Kraken.

When it comes to his improvement, though, Leonard stays modest.

"It's great," he said. "Playing with great players, so a lot of credit to them. Definitely feel a lot better, and each and every shift gets better and better."

As Leonard continues to adapt to the speed and pace of the NHL, Carbery knows that it's a marathon, not a sprint, when it comes to him reaching his full potential. But right now, he's definitely trending in the right direction.

"The other little things inside his game, his coverage reads, his puck decisions, his wall play, it's just slowly getting better, and that's all that we're looking to do. We know it's going to be a process," Carbery said. "We know he's going to have tough touches at certain points and missed coverage during games, and that's part of developing in the National Hockey League as a young player. And we're just looking for progress.

"... Sooner or later, in game 40 or 50 or game 70, you'll start to get to a point, or maybe it'll take a couple years, to be that fully, fully polished NHL player," he added. "And then you combine that with the skill set that he has, and he makes a few more of those players, and you're a good player."