League's best sniper has best answer yet to boost scoring!

The very best forwards in hockey, Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby, Washington Capital Alex Ovechkin, New York Islander John Tavares, Chicago Blackhawk Jonathan Toews and Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos all weighed in on the NHL scoring crisis in the Toronto Sun. Of all the superstars, Ovechkin is the one who had the best answer according to the Sun's Mike Zeisberger. «Just shoot baby, shoot!» is what Ovy has to say. According to the winger who scored 50 goals six times in 10 NHL season (he would have had seven had the 2012-13 season not been shortened), the simplest answer is the best. Easy to say for a man with one of the nastiest wrist shot in the game, but he realizes there are less opportunities than there used to be.

Because of the goaltending situation, because of the defensive situation, I think it’s much more difficult for us to create the opportunities to score goals or even to spend time in the offensive zone,” Ovechkin said. “There are more and more defenceman now who can block shots and who can all skate well. It’s very hard for forwards just to get the opportunities just to shoot the puck and to score goals.”

The four other superstars also have interesting things to say. According to Blackhawks' captain Jonathan Toews, it's simply because there are more talented players in the league than there used to be and the scoring is split between them. The three times Cup Champion says there is always a guy on your back and odd-man rushes don't happen anymore. Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos agrees with Toews, saying there are less weak team to take advantage of right now than there used to be. The two times 50 goals scorer thinks the game should stay as it is, and players will figure it out. Finally, John Tavares and Sidney Crosby think that the league should shrink the goalies equipment even more. Tavares adds that the ice could get bigger, not to an olympic size, but only a couple of feet. He also would like to see three on three overtime, saying an overtime consisting of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang against Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith could be everything fans ever wished for. One thing all five superstars seem to agree on according to Zeisberger is this: don't change the net size. The 2014-15 season was the one with the lowest top scorer since 1967-68 (when a full season is played). Out of the top 11, five come from the post 2005 lock-out era. Images courtesy of Keystone Press Agency