More than ten years ago, Alex Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP during his first season playing right wing instead of his usual left. The following year, he scored the most goals in the league with 51 while playing in the same position.
“I’ll take it right now,” Ovechkin said.
The Washington Capitals are hoping for a boost from Ovechkin moving to the right side for their second game of the season on Tuesday against Vegas. Coach Spencer Carbery downplayed the change as a way to balance the lineup, but it could be significant as Ovechkin, now 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 role will be filled by Logan Thompson against his former team, the Golden Knights, who traded him in the offseason after disagreements about his role.
After losing 5-3 to New Jersey in their first game, Carbery moved Aliaksei Protas to the top-line left wing — Ovechkin’s position for most 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 again in 2013-14 when Adam Oates was coaching. Oates believed the right-handed-shooting Ovechkin had been on the wrong side all along.
After a slow start with five goals in his first 16 games, Ovechkin scored 27 in his last 32 to help Washington reach 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 the offensive zone to the defensive zone and you stay on the right side. So, you play basically most of the time there — left or right.”
