No player has officially scored more NHL goals than Alex Ovechkin. He netted his 895th NHL goal against the Islanders on Sunday, and since then, the hockey world has united to celebrate his legendary career. Budweiser even sent a special gift to every goalie that Ovechkin didn’t score against during his career—which led to a hilarious, now-viral response from a former NHL goalie.
Washington Capitals‘ Ovechkin made his NHL debut in 2005 with sky-high expectations. Still, no one could’ve imagined him breaking one of Wayne Gretzky’s most iconic records. But for 20 years, Ovechkin has scored at an astonishing pace, and at age 39, he’s still absolutely world-class. He’s racked up more than 40 goals this season despite suffering a broken leg early in the 2024–25 campaign. After scoring twice against the Blackhawks this past weekend to tie Gretzky’s all-time goals record of 894, he officially claimed the top spot with his 895th goal on Sunday against the New York Islanders.
Alex Ovechkin is now the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. Over the course of his remarkable career, he managed to score on the vast majority of goalies he faced. In total, only 28 goalies have played against Ovechkin without ever allowing a goal—and Budweiser decided to honor those rare few with a unique gift.
Goalies sent beer after Alex Ovechkin’s record
To mark the occasion, Budweiser created a limited-edition celebratory beer, gifted to all 28 goalies who never gave up a goal to Ovechkin. When the campaign was announced on social media, iconic goalie Curtis Joseph—one of the 28—proudly showed off the beer, which came in a special box that read: “The greatest goal scorer of all time couldn’t score on these kings of zero.”
The initiative naturally caused a stir on social media, but it also sparked a hilarious reaction from a former goalie who didn’t make the list—and thus didn’t receive the special beer. Eddie Lack, the Swedish former netminder who played for the Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames, and New Jersey Devils, took to social media to express his faux outrage at being scored on by Ovechkin.
“This is bulls—t,” he wrote on X. “If I knew there was beers involved I would’ve tried harder.”
At the time of writing, Lack’s post has racked up over 30,000 likes on X, with fans praising his hilarious take on the once-in-a-lifetime Budweiser gift.
READ MORE: Matthew Knies’ seven-word response on Alex Ovechkin’s record
