After a hatty Sunday, Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No. 883 on Tuesday night, putting him within a dozen of the all-time goals record.
The downside to that? Calgary won the game, giving Washington their first regulation loss at home since Nov. 23, which sort of emphasizes how and why the Caps are plus-11 in the win column through 58 games this season as opposed to 2023-24.
“I knew we were on a pretty good run at home, but didn’t remember the exact dates or the exact number of games,” Carbery said. “Frustrating to play the way we did last night, but obviously a long season, and you're gonna have nights like that. So we'll learn from it, take what we can out of it, and move on.”
Now, back to that Ovechkin thing, EB had quite the wild question: if Ovi’s on 893 or 894 and a chance for some empty-net action happens, will Carbs put him out there, or would he rather 8 tie or break the record by beating an actual goalie?
“I’ve thought about it, and I haven’t talked to O about this yet, but my guess is that when it gets to that point, I don't think he's gonna want to break it with an empty-netter,” Carbs said, and when EB said ‘or tie it?’ Carbs continued: “That’s fair, but a lot of times he’s our best option to be out there to win the hockey game, so if it’s a one-goal game, do you do it, versus a three-goal game? I haven’t gotten that far, but I have thought about it, and I think it's something that we'll discuss and decide. I think the goal to break Wayne’s iconic record will be shown for years to come, and I think you want a goaltender in the net, but we’ll sit down and get his thoughts and opinions, and go from there.”
That part matters, but to Carbs, where Ovi breaks the record doesn’t, even if he of course would like to see it happen at Capital One Arena.
“It doesn’t matter; you'd rather it happen at home, zero question about that, but to try to manufacture that, I just don't think makes any sense,” Carbery said. “You hope it organically happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't, but I don't think you can script that or try to plan for that. And, six of our last nine are on the road, so that is what it is. Hopefully it’s this year, and hopefully it’s at home, but you just keep playing the games and keep trying to get the next one.”
Take a listen to Carbs’ entire visit above, as he goes into details on Tuesday’s loss and more!