Alex Ovechkin is just a handful of goals away from catching Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history. However, many have pointed out how often Ovechkin has scored empty-netters in recent years. Now, Nathan MacKinnon is sharing his thoughts on the subject—and everyone should listen to the superstar forward.
Ovechkin entered the NHL with enormous expectations, but somehow, he has managed to exceed them. For nearly 20 years, the Russian superstar has been one of the league’s best players, and now, he is on the brink of making hockey history.
With 889 career goals, Ovechkin is just six away from passing Gretzky for the all-time record. Most expect him to break it during this year’s regular season. However, critics have argued that Ovechkin is “empty-netting” his way to the record. Over his career, he has scored 65 empty-net goals—the most in NHL history and nine more than Gretzky, who ranks second.
Nathan MacKinnon on Ovi’s empty netters
But according to Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, Ovechkin’s empty-netters are no different from stat-padding in other sports.
“They’re adding it to his goal count, I’m sure,” MacKinnon said of Ovechkin, via The Athletic. “They’re not going to take those away. It’s like in the NBA, you have free-throw merchants and things like that. (Garbage time) in the NFL. Stat padders. In every sport, there’s some sort of parallel.”
MacKinnon acknowledged that scoring empty-netters feels different from scoring “regular” goals, but he emphasized that they are still a legitimate part of the game.
“Sometimes you get two in a game, or you get a couple of points off them, and you feel kind of sleazy,” MacKinnon said. “… It comes with being on a good team. You get leads, and then you get those. I get it, though. People don’t love it, I’m sure. But the whole point is just to end the game.”
READ MORE: Alex Ovechkin’s awesome gesture to Marc-Andre Fleury
