Matt Bradley tied his career high with his third period marker, but more importantly, the goal broke the
Caps’ three-game losing streak. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

When Matt Bradley put the puck in the net in the third period of Thursday’s game against Atlanta Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec, he accomplished two things: his team had their first game-winning goal in four games, and Bradley tied his NHL career high of nine goals in a season.

Bradley joins an already-impressive list of players having banner seasons in Capitals red this year. The nine-year veteran is now the sixth Washington Capitals forward to either match or break his NHL personal best for goals scored this season. He’s in good company: Nicklas Backstrom (30 goals), Eric Fehr (21 goals), Tomas Fleischmann (21 goals), and Brooks Laich (24 goals) have each already recorded a career high in NHL goals this year. Quintin Laing — despite being out of the lineup for much of the season — still has two goals, which means he’s doubled his personal best. Not to mention Alexander Semin, who, at one goal away from tying his career-best goal haul, is a virtual lock to add his name to the list.

Oh, right: and while team captain Alexander Ovechkin probably won’t reach his career high (Ovie sits 19 goals shy of his career-high after last night), he still has more goals than anyone in the NHL this year, save for Sidney Crosby. Currently, Ovechkin is tied with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos at 46 goals.

But even though it’s been a banner year for many in the above group, with the success spread across all four Caps lines, guys like Bradley seem more interested in a team win than a personal record.

“It was nice to get the goal, but the win was the most important thing,” Bradley said after yesterday’s game, which the Caps won 2-1 thanks to tallies by Bradley and Backstrom and a hiccup-free effort by Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov.