The Capitals captain elected not to shoot at the empty net so that he could feed Aliaksei Protas for his first career NHL hat trick. (Gary A. Vasquez — Imagn Images)Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin found himself with the puck on his stick, the net empty at the other end and seconds ticking down against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
With nine goals to go until he breaks Wayne Gretkzy's record, critics figured he'd shoot for the empty twine. However, instead of skating to the open space and trying to shoot, he passed the puck up the ice to Aliaksei Protas, who buried the breakaway pass for his first career NHL hat trick.
The assist marked Ovechkin's third of the game in what was an unselfish showing en route to a 7-4 win, where he also totalled three shots and 11 total attempts (eight were blocked) while making several key plays through 16:54 minutes on the ice.
"Unreal accomplishment coming up, and he makes that play," Protas said postgame. "How happy he is for me, that says everything about him as a teammate."
Ovechkin now has 53 points through 49 games on the season, and 717 assists to go with his 886 career goals.
The 39-year-old has continued to prove to critics that he is more than a goal scorer, and as he gets closer to the record, he is doing what he can to put the emphasis on the team rather than himself.
“Why you have to be selfish (about it)?” Ovechkin said in a 1-on-1 with The Hockey News. “My dad always told me like, ‘It doesn’t matter how good you are, how successful you are. You have to stay the same level that you came into the league."
