Spencer Carbery says Alex Ovechkin's rare shifts off Capitals' second-unit power play were purely situational: 'It's not quantity, it's quality with O at this point in his career'

""I thought just a couple times - I'm monitoring his shift lengths - so he had a 5-on-5 shift, then a power play, right back-to-back," Carbery said. "So that puts him in a tough spot from playing three minutes in a row. Same thing on that 5-on-3 where he's out there for the 5-on-4, then the 5-on-3, and then we come back out. Those are times where, look, I've got to help him.""

""It's not quantity, it's quality with O now at this point in his career, so it's my job to find him that quality. I have to make sure that his minutes are where they need to be, and we're utilizing him in the spots to use his strengths and what he does at an elite level at this point in his career.""

The Capitals received five power plays but lost 3-1 to the Bruins on Opening Night at Capital One Arena. Captain Alex Ovechkin did not remain with the second power-play unit on several opportunities, prompting attention given his usual heavy deployment. Head coach Spencer Carbery monitored Ovechkin's shift lengths and removed him to prevent consecutive long shifts, especially after back-to-back 5-on-5 and power-play or 5-on-4 then 5-on-3 sequences. Carbery emphasized prioritizing quality over quantity for Ovechkin in his age-40 season and managing his minutes to exploit his strengths. Ovechkin still led the game in power-play ice time but was shut down by Boston's penalty kill.

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