Nathan MacKinnon gets 100% real about Alex Ovechkin's high empty-net goal count aiding Wayne Gretzky record chase

Nathan MacKinnon shared his thoughts on Alex Ovechkin’s many empty-net goals and their impact on his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

Ovechkin has scored 65 empty net goals in his career, and that's nine goals more the Wayne Gretzky, who stands at second. If we go further down the list, Brad Marchand and Sidney Crosby are also on the top 5 list.

MacKinnon compared Alex Ovechkin's goals to stat padding in other sports.

"They’re adding it to his goal count, I’m sure," MacKinnon said about Ovechkin, via The Athletic. "They’re not going to take those away. It’s like in the NBA, you have free-throw merchants and things like that. (Garbage time) in the NFL. Stat padders. In every sport, there’s some sort of parallel."

MacKinnon admitted that the empty-net goals can feel “sleazy” but said they are part of the game.

“Sometimes you get two in a game, or you get a couple points off them, and you feel kind of sleazy,” MacKinnon said. “... It comes with being on a good team. You get leads, and then you get those. I get it, though. People don’t love it, I’m sure. But the whole point is just to end the game.”

Alex Ovechkin is chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record of 894. Like all other sports, there will be people rooting for him and those questioning his achievements.

Alex Ovechkin said Capitals' loss to Jets felt like a playoff game after scoring 889th goal

The Washington Capitals lost 3-2 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre.

Josh Morrissey gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 6:50 of the first period with a one-timer from the point. Andrew Mangiapane tied it 1-1 at 19:20, finishing a give-and-go with Jakob Chychrun.

Mason Appleton put the Jets ahead 2-1 at 19:48 of the second period with a wrist shot from the face-off dot. Alex Ovechkin tied the game 2-2 at 16:00 of the third with a wrist shot from the left circle. He now has 889 career goals, six behind Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored the overtime winner on a breakaway at 1:28. The win secured Winnipeg’s playoff spot. Ovechkin said the game had a playoff feel, with physical play and intensity.

"I think the beginning of the second, we generate pretty good chances, and in the third, you can see after when we’re down by one, we’re kind of trying to make a push and we got rewarded,” Ovechkin said via NHL.com. “But it was a playoff game, like playoff mentality, physicality was there as well. So, yeah, it was a good one."

The Washington Capitals will next face the Minnesota Wild on March 27.