On Sunday, Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin completed his quest to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer with goal 895. The following morning, Budweiser Canada seized a unique opportunity to dust off a familiar-looking promotional campaign. The beer distributor produced special commemorative cans labeled “Zero of 895”, which were presented to the NHL goaltenders who did not allow Ovechkin to score a goal on them. While 29 goalies received the one-of-a-kind keepsake, only three members of the list were former teammates of the Capitals star during their careers.
Budweiser Sends Suds to Leo Messi Goal Victims in 2020
In late 2020, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi broke soccer’s all-time top scorer record for a single club at 644 goals, and Budweiser launched a unique promotional campaign to honor the historic achievement. The beer makers created over 644 uniquely-numbered bottles (numbered one to 644) and sent them to the goalkeepers that Messi scored against during nearly two decades in Barcelona, Spain. Only 160 goalkeepers received these special items despite bottles being created for each of Messi’s scoring strikes.
Oblak and Buffon posing with their Budweiser beers. pic.twitter.com/lG7nNcbm1f
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) December 24, 2020
The current promotion from Budweiser Canada is more exclusive and flipped on its head from the Messi campaign. For Ovechkin’s feat, Budweiser shipped out 28 individual beer cans to each goalie who denied an Ovechkin shot in an NHL regular-season or playoff game but did not concede a goal. Fifteen netminders, or 51% of those honored, played a single game against Washington’s all-time leading scorer and received a commemorative can for keeping Ovechkin off the scoresheet.
Following Alex Ovechkin's record-breaking goal, @BudweiserCanada is honoring the 28 goalies who kept him off the scoreboard with #KingofZero commemorative cans. I love seeing some of the names on this list, including now-@NHLPA exec Rob Zepp. pic.twitter.com/9aPKrQ0kNs
— Alex M. Silverman????⚽️ (@AlexMSilverman) April 7, 2025
Holtby Owned the Battle With His Former Teammate
A fourth-round draft pick for the Capitals, Braden Holtby spent a decade with Ovechkin and the Capitals from 2010-11 to 2019-20, including the team’s memorable 2018 Stanley Cup Championship season. In 2016, the 6-foot-1 netminder dominated the NHL with a 42-13-6 record, a 2.20 goals-against average (GAA), and a .922 save percentage (SV%) in 66 games, claiming the Vezina Trophy over Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick. From the other end of the ice, Holtby watched Ovechkin score 389 goals, or 43% of his NHL total, during his time in Washington.
Related: 8 Fascinating Facts From Ovechkin’s GR8 Chase
Holtby’s lone matchup against Ovechkin came in 2021-22 as a member of the Dallas Stars. The goalie stopped two shots from his former teammate in a 5-0 Stars loss. While the result might be one that Holtby would like to forget, the netminder will still receive a can with the No. 70 at the top of the label to commemorate not allowing his former teammate to celebrate a goal as an opponent.
Neuvirth Denied More Than 20 Shots
Michal Neuvirth, a 2006 second-round draft pick by the Capitals, denied 25 shots from Ovechkin over nine games after spending the first six seasons of his career in Washington. The 11-year NHL veteran appeared in 134 games for the Capitals with a 59-41-13 record, a 2.67 GAA, and a .910 SV%. Over his six seasons in Washington, the goaltender watched Ovechkin score 259 goals or a 29% share of his overall goal total. In March 2014, Washington traded Neuvirth to the Buffalo Sabres.
Neuvirth played for the Sabres and New York Islanders between 2013-14 and 2014-15 but never appeared in a game against his former teammates until the 6-foot-1 goalie signed a four-year free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2015 offseason. Neuvirth battled Washington seven times between the 2016-17 and 2018-2019 campaigns, including three games in the 2016 playoffs.
While Ovechkin scored three goals through the first three games against Flyers’ starter Steve Mason, Washington’s forward was held scoreless once Neuvirth stepped in to finish the series for Philadelphia in Games 4-6 despite 16 shots on net from his former teammate. While he denied Ovechkin, it was not enough for the Flyers as the Capitals eliminated the Flyers in six games. For his 25 total saves against Ovechkin, Neuvirth earned himself a shiny, special-edition silver can featuring his No. 30 jersey number from Budweiser.
Vanecek Stopped Ovechkin Despite Allowing 6 to Washington in March
Ovechkin’s most-recent teammate to appear on the list is Vitek Vanecek. The 6-foot-2 goalie was a second-round pick by Washington in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and played 79 games for the Capitals with a 41-22-10 record. Vanecek watched Ovechkin score 74 goals, or 8% of his total, over two seasons between 2020-21 and 2021-22. Washington traded Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils in July 2022 for second-round and third-round draft picks.
Since leaving the Capitals, the goalie has stopped 19 shots from Ovechkin over five games, among one of the highest save rates of goalies on this list. As a member of the Devils from 2022-24, the goalie battled Ovechkin four times and rejected 13 shots. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks last March but did not appear against Washington during his time in California. Last month, Vanecek was traded from San Jose to the Florida Panthers.
The 29-year-old has appeared in five games with a 1-3-1 record for the defending Stanley Cup Champions, including starting a 6-3 loss to Washington on March 22. While Vanecek allowed a handful of goals at Capital One Arena, Ovechkin did not score on six shots. Therefore, the goalie was marked safe from the ledger of 183 different NHL goalies Washington’s captain scored on. Vanecek is one of only 10 goalies to face at least 10 shots from the NHL’s all-time leading scorer and not concede a goal. The netminder was honored by Budweiser with a can featuring his No. 41 for his accomplishment.
