Ovechkin shifting to right wing for Caps’ second game of season

Oct 14, 2024, 04:27 PM ET

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than a decade ago, Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP during his first season playing right wing instead of his usual left. The next year, playing in the same spot, he scored a league-best 51 goals.

“I’ll take it right now,” Ovechkin said.

So would the Washington Capitals, who might get a spark from Ovechkin shifting to the right side for their second game of the season Tuesday against Vegas. Coach Spencer Carbery downplayed the move as an adjustment to balance out the lineup, but it could have a big impact as Ovechkin at age 39 chases Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record.

“I think it’s a small change,” Carbery said. “I find him on both sides of the ice a lot, and so left, right, it’s not a huge deal to me.”

Ovechkin joked, “Maybe I’m going to play goalie.” No, that will be Logan Thompson against his former team, the Golden Knights, who traded him in the offseason following a difference of opinion on his role with the organization.

After a 5-3 loss to New Jersey in the opener, Carbery moved Aliaksei Protas to top-line left wing — Ovechkin’s spot for the better part of his 20-year career in North America — alongside center Dylan Strome.

“We just mix it up,” Ovechkin said. “We still have options to find out combinations. It’s the beginning of the year, new faces on the team, so we have to find the right combinations, right chemistry, so that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”

Ovechkin played right wing in the lockout-shortened 2013 season and then again in 2013-14 when Adam Oates coached the team. Oates thought the right-handed-shooting Ovechkin had been on the wrong side all along.

Five goals in his first 16 games was a rough start, then Ovechkin scored 27 in his final 32 to get Washington into the playoffs.

“I have experience to play there, but it was a long time (ago),” Ovechkin said. “You start on the left or right, it doesn’t matter because in the game you’re coming from offensive zone to (the defensive)…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/41795856/ovechkin-shifting-right-wing-caps-second-game-season

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Publish date : 2024-10-14 21:36:37

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