"Been an honor to play with him": Sidney Crosby lauds teammate Jeff Carter who announced his retirement after Penguins' final game

By ARJUN B

Modified Apr 18, 2024 05:50 GMT

Longtime NHL veteran Jeff Carter announced his retirement after playing his final game for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Carter's retirement closes the book on a spectacular 19-year career that saw him capture two Stanley Cups and Olympic gold medals.

Carter's teammate and Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was effusive in his praise for Carter following the announcement.

"When you look at everything he's accomplished, he's basically won everything possible," Crosby said. "He had a Calder Cup early, just to get that out of the way. It’s been a lot of fun, and it's been an honor to play with him."

He went on to laud Carter's consistency and professionalism over his long career.

"He’s just had an amazing career, and honestly, he's the same guy that I remember meeting when I was 16. Just a lot of poise, great guy in the room, brings it every single night. He’s had an amazing career."

Crosby and Carter were teammates representing Canada early in their careers, forging a bond through those experiences.

"A lot. We played together at World Juniors, and kind of grew up playing with Team Canada together, and then played against him when he was just Philadelphia [grins], so a bit of a rivalry there. Things change."

The 39-year-old Carter explained the rationale behind retiring now, citing wanting to spend more time with family after nearly two decades in the NHL.

"I'm going to be a dad. You miss a lot being a hockey player, you're in and out in a way,” Carter said. “My family sacrificed a lot for me to live out my dream. I'm going to be home and be a dad, and then figure it out from there."

Jeff Carter wraps up his career with a total of 851 points, which includes 442 goals and 409 assists achieved throughout his tenure of 1,321 games.

Sidney Crosby's Penguins close out with a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins' regular season came to a disappointing end on Wednesday night with a 5-4 loss against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

Despite the efforts of superstar Sidney Crosby, who tallied two assists to finish with a team-leading 94 points, the Penguins struggled to keep pace with the Islanders. New York winger Simon Holmström delivered the final blow, breaking a 4-4 tie with a goal at 14:27 of the third period.

Penguins’ goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves in the loss.

The Penguins got goals from Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Valtteri Puustinen, and Jeff Carter. But the Islanders countered with tallies from Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, Kyle Palmieri and Samuel Bolduc before Holmstrom's late winner.

Sidney Crosby nearly forced overtime when awarded a penalty shot with 29.5 seconds left, but was denied by New York netminder Ilya Sorokin.