Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin scored his twenty fifth purpose of the season Tuesday night time on an empty-net shot within the closing second of the staff’s 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers.
It was his 63rd profession empty-net purpose, essentially the most in NHL historical past. As he continues to shut in on Hockey Corridor of Famer Wayne Gretzky’s all-time objectives document (17 away from passing 894), his utilization in late-game six-on-five conditions has come into query.
Head coach Spencer Carbery defended his tactic of throwing out the staff’s finest purpose scorer when, sometimes, groups need to defend in opposition to their opponent’s further attacker within the waning minutes.
“What I see within the empty-net conditions is a participant that has an unbelievable means to learn the place the puck goes,” he instructed reporters at a pre-practice information convention on Wednesday. “Folks would say, ‘What’s he doing on the market? He doesn’t penalty kill. He’s not a defensive specialist. Why would you set him on the market?'”
Ovechkin has scored six empty-net objectives this season. Nevertheless, different NHL star scorers even have an analogous tally this 12 months, reinforcing Carbery’s technique.
