Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin made clear Friday night he didn’t want to be on the ice in an empty-net situation when he needed one more goal to break Wayne Gretzky’s record at home.
‘He wants to break the record with a goaltender in the crease,’ coach Spencer Carbery told reporters after the 5-3 win in which Ovechkin scored twice to tie Gretzky (894).
No goalie wants to be the one who gives up the record goal, but it looks like someone will. So who could it be?
Ovechkin has six games and four opponents left to get goal No. 895 before the end of the season. He faces the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets twice, plus the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Islanders are up next on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV). Semyon Varlamov has given up eight goals, including ones on which Ovechkin passed Mario Lemieux for 10th place, Phil Esposito for sixth and Jaromir Jagr for third. But Varlamov is injured.
How Ovechkin has fared against goalies he could face down the stretch:
New York Islanders
Dates: April 6 and 15
Ilya Sorokin: No goals in three games on four shots.
Marcus Hogberg: Two goals in three games on 14 shots.
Carolina Hurricanes
Date: April 10
Frederik Andersen: Nine goals in 12 games on 48 shots.
Pyotr Kochetkov: Four goals in five games on 19 shots.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dates: April 12-13
Elvis Merzlikins: Four goals in seven games on 24 shots.
Daniil Tarasov: Three goals in three games on nine shots.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Date: April 17
Tristan Jarry: Two goals in 11 games on 30 shots.
Alex Nedeljkovic: Two goals in four games on 12 shots.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
