The Capitals captain is 17 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Washington Capitals' win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, captain Alex Ovechkin got a hold of a loose puck while defending 5-on-6, and after pump-faking a shot, iced the game with an empty-netter with just .1 seconds left on the clock.
It marked his sixth empty-net goal of the year and his 25th of the season overall, putting him just 17 away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history. He's also the league's all-time empty-net goal leader, with 63 ENGs over his 20-year career.
"Something special's happening," Tom Wilson said. "The poise for him to fake the shot with three seconds left and put it in with a 10th of a second left. It's 'cause it's Gretzky, I guess. He'll just keep chasing. Pretty amazing to see that one go in with that much time left."
As he continues his pursuit of No. 99, critics have pointed to the empty cage, arguing that Ovechkin is taking advantage and inching closer thanks to an "easier situation" at 5-on-6.
The argument falls apart, though, because empty-net situations are not easy to navigate.
"One hundred percent (it's not easy to score on an empty net)," coach Spencer Carbery said. "I've talked about this a little bit. You can say what you want about the record and how it relates to empty-net goals. You could bring up a lot of different things about Wayne's amount of empty net goals, plus all the things that have 'hindered' O's pursuit of the record, from lockouts to scoring in the game, all sorts of different stuff. You go down a bunch of different rabbit holes, but what I see in the empty-net situations is a player that has an incredible ability to read where the puck is going."
When goaltenders are pulled in favor of an extra attacker, you're facing a team that is up by one extra skater and giving everything left in the tank to try to get the game tied up. You're shorthanded, it's difficult to regain possession, and then, it's even more difficult to get it down the ice and have the poise, timing and ability to get it in the net, whether it's from long range or whether you skate it up.
Ovechkin has become a regular for the team defending at 5-on-6 because of his vision and ability to carry the puck up and ice the win.
"People would say, 'Oh, what is he doing out there? He doesn't penalty kill, he's not a defensive specialist. Why would you put him out there?' There's a lot of skill players that play around the league 5-on-6 that aren't your 'defensive specialists' or your penalty kill guys that have a ton of value playing 5-on-6 because they are so intelligent with what the offensive players want to do," Carbery explained. "They know where the next play is and where the puck is going, and that's what you see from O constantly, is he's reading where the puck is going."
The 39-year-old is not even the NHL's leader in empty-netters this season; that belongs to Mikko Rantanen, who has seven ENGs this season out of the 26 he's scored.
Carbery used Rantanen, along with Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, as examples of what Ovechkin brings to the table.
"Mitch Marner is a little bit of a unique example of that because he penalty kills, but Willy Nylander: People say Willy Nylander cheats a lot, gets a ton of breakaways. It's here (mentally), though, he's reading where the puck is going. He sees their defenseman's going to get the puck, and so now he goes right? He knows they're getting the puck and the puck is going north," Carbery said. "It's the same thing with O, he's reading where that puck is going to go. You can see tons of guys that play 5-on-6, they barely get one or two empty-netters a year."
Of course, Carbery knows that Ovechkin's primarily an offensive weapon. After all, he's the league's most prolific goal scorer, and that said, he's not a defensive-minded player. That doesn't stop him, though, from making positive contributions when shutting down the opposition.
"He has to be careful in some situations. He can't leave the zone too early... I have to put him out there knowing there might be a missed shot block or some type of defensive read that maybe Brandon Duhaime or Connor McMichael would make him a more defensive read in that situation," Carbery said. "I'm okay with that because I the reward, right?"
Still, Ovechkin's evolved into more a reliable player over the course of his 20-year career, and Carbery said he's still learning to be stronger in those scenarios. And at the end of the day, Carbery won't stop throwing him over the boards when the time comes.
"He churns his brain. He and I talk a lot about when the game's on the line, when he has to play underneath pucks and be really, really intelligent and stay inside a structure, he has no problem doing that," Carbery said. "That's why he gives (us) comfort when I put him out in those situations."
Then, there's the challenge from Ovechkin himself.
"Every goal is hard to score in this league," Ovechkin said back in Toronto. "If you want to try, go get skates and go 6-on-5.”
