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Islanders Players Showed Respect for Penguins Veteran Jeff Carter After Final Career Game
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the New York Islanders, 5–4, on Wednesday night in a game that marked the end of Pittsburgh’s season and the end of one veteran’s NHL career.
Penguins center Jeff Carter announced after the game that he was retiring after 19 NHL seasons. The 39-year-old had a great career, scoring 442 career goals and recording 409 assists. He played with four teams and won two Stanley Cups (in 2012 and ’14 with the Los Angeles Kings).
Though Carter didn’t officially let everybody know it was his last game until afterwards, the writing was on the wall, and Islanders players joined together after the final horn to give him a proper sendoff. Every New York player lined up to shake Carter’s hand in a touching display of sportsmanship.
“That was really nice of them,” Carter said. “There’s guys on that other side that have been around for a while, too, and I’ve played against quite a bit. A lot of respect for those guys over there. They’ve got really good people, really good team. I appreciated that.”
Carter even went out on a high note, scoring a powerplay goal in the third period that tied the game.
“That was really nice,” Carter said of the goal. “When [coach Mike Sullivan] put me out there, I knew I wasn’t leaving the net. You could tell [my teammates] were trying to get it there every change they could. Pretty special moment to get one there at the end, and something I’ll remember, for sure.”