Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Marcus Johansson just scored.
8:15 into the second period, Johansson put another biscuit in the basket after a great individual play by Evgeny Kuznetsov. It was Johansson’s sixth goal of the season.
Jojo can't stop, won't stop. #CapsJets on @csnma pic.twitter.com/rQLJ1RSv2B
— #CapsFightCancer (@Capitals) November 2, 2016
The play began innocently enough in the Jets’ defensive zone. Defenseman Paul Postma tried to pass the puck to a teammate in the neutral zone. Instead Johansson knocked the puck out of the air and dished to Kuznetsov, who was skating into the Jets’ zone with speed. After skating around both Mathieu Perreault and the retreating Postma, Kuzy found Johansson wide open in front of the net.
Replays would show goaltender Connor Hellebuyck kicked Johansson’s shot into the net.
Johansson would credit Kuznetsov for making the goal possible during his second intermission interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Craig Laughlin.
Mojo on his goal: "When Kuzy gets the puck, you just have to be ready. He pretty much gave me the whole front of the net all by myself." pic.twitter.com/uUWGX167qc
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) November 2, 2016
It’s Johansson’s third-straight game with a goal and his third-straight multi-point game. According to Ben Raby, the five goals Johansson has scored over the last three games are a career high.
Nine games into the season, Johansson is on fire. He leads the Capitals in points with 11. Johansson’s six goals put him in an eight-way tie for second place in NHL goalscoring. Johansson is also in the NHL’s top ten in points.
And Johansson, who many Caps fans have credited over the years for being soft, has done it from near the crease.
Annual reminder that Marcus Johansson going to the net and scoring goals is not a new thing for him (career heatmap https://t.co/re5yG5DY7p) pic.twitter.com/wEy7E6oOAZ
— pfholden.bsky.social (@pfholden) November 2, 2016
Per Isabelle, Mojo’s last five goals were all within 17 feet.
Suffice to say, hockey has been easy for Johansson lately.
