The Pittsburgh Penguins put together a dominating 10-2 performance against the San Jose Sharks, but a certain struggling veteran forward was absent from the lineup.
For the first time in his career, Jeff Carter was a healthy scratch and watched his Penguins teammates from the press box.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Carter has been taking the scratch like a good professional and is still an important teammate for the team.
Sullivan also said that the success Carter has put together over his career could land him among all time greats.
“We have so much respect for Carts,” Sullivan said. “You look at his body of work in this league, he’s knocking on the door to the Hall of Fame with what he’s accomplished.”
It might not seem like it these days, at the age of 38, but Carter is a veteran of 1,258 games, 431 career goals, and a pair of Stanley Cups.
Carter was an important piece of those Los Angeles Kings Cup runs, too; he scored a playoff high eight goals in 20 games in 2012, then 25 total points in 26 games in 2014.
“He’s a multiple time Stanley Cup Champion,” Sullivan said. “He’s scored an awful lot of goals in this league. He’s been such a great player in the game for so long.”
These last couple of seasons with the Penguins may have made slimmed the odds for Carter to get into the Hall of Fame, but that’s still high praise from the head coach.
A handful of 60-point seasons and a career-high 84 in 2008-09 with the Philadelphia Flyers, it’s not out of the realm of possibility Carter does find himself enshrined one day.
Drafted 11th overall in 2003 out of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Carter won silver and gold in two World Junior Championships, is an Olympic gold medalist from 2014, and is a two-time All-Star.
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