Tuesday night was simply crazy in the NHL. The Washington Capitals’ goal-scoring machine, Alex Ovechkin, notched his 878th career goal in Washington’s 6-3 victory over the Panthers, lighting up Capital One Arena like a winter festival. And he did it with some serious drama—scored an empty net goal with one second to spare! With that goal, Ovi inched 17 goals closer to cracking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 goals, making history one slapshot at a time. But hold up—while the moment was undeniably electric, not everyone was vibing with the way it went down. What had some fans side-eyeing? The empty net goal.

Yep, the NHL world had a lot to say about Alex Ovechkin padding his stats without a goalie standing in his way. One user even compared it to track and field, saying, “Alex Ovechkin empty netting his way to the record is the same as if the Olympics allowed wind-assisted sprint records. They don’t count for a very good reason. The NHL clearly doesn’t know how to deal with the barrage of empty net goals when an immortal record is at stake.” And despite the chatter, hockey fans far and wide are rallying behind him, because let’s be real—when it comes to chasing Gretzky’s record, every single goal counts.

Alex Ovechkin receives backing from fans!

The Ovi empty-net haters have been loud, but one fan came through with a mic-drop moment on Subreddit. “Not only did Ovi break the record for most tendies scored on, he extended that record last night.” Translation? Ovechkin owns goalies. And for those side-eyeing his empty-netters, here’s a fun fact—out of 873 goalies to ever start an NHL game, Ovi has scored on 180.

That’s 20.6% of every netminder in the 107 years of NHL history. And the best part? This fan is celebrating it in the most legendary way possible—by eating 180 chicken tenders this weekend. One tendie for every goalie Ovi has roasted.

And the fans? Oh, they were riding with Alex Ovechkin all the way! One user summed it up perfectly: “I don’t hate the empty netters. A goal is a goal.” And let’s be real—that’s a fact. Every puck that crosses the line counts, period.

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And speaking of stacking up those goals, Alex Ovechkin wasn’t done yet! Just a few days later, under the bright lights of the Wells Fargo Center, he struck again—ripping his 879th career goal as the Capitals pulled off a thrilling 4-3 comeback against the Flyers. But this is just the beginning!

Fans support Ovechkin and his move!

Another fan chipped in and provided some hockey knowledge to the haters of the empty-net goal. “The reason the net is empty is because that team is still within reach of a tie, even if it’s unlikely.” Translation? Empty net goals matter. It is not easy to secure a victory before the final siren sounds, but it requires talent to get it done—picking the puck from a team that has more players on the ice, passing the puck to the teammate, and scoring in a 6v5 situation. And let’s be real, Alex Ovechkin has scored on every Vezina winner of the past 20 years like it’s a hobby. Empty net, full net—it doesn’t matter.

One fan humorously put it, “People only say empty net goals r easy after it goes in.” And honestly? They’ve got a point. Ovi isn’t just scoring empty-netters—he’s owning the record books. No player in NHL history has racked up more than him. In his two-decade reign, he’s bagged 63 of them, with six just this season. And if you’re wondering how that stacks up, here’s a fun fact—that’s seven more than Gretzky and 25 more than Brad Marchand, the next active player tailing him.

Another fan jumped in with a spicy take: “Interesting stat. But what I’d prefer to see is how many goalies have played in the 19 years he’s been in the NHL and what % of the goalies that have been active at the same time has he scored on?” Basically, they wanted the real receipts for Ovi’s goalie domination. And guess what? Someone actually crunched the numbers. “I did the math a few weeks back when he broke the record—I think it’s around 50%.”

Half the goalies who’ve laced up in the last 19 years have had to pick a puck out of their net courtesy of Ovi. That’s not just legendary—that’s straight-up goalies’ nightmare fuel. So, as one fan perfectly put it, “Not Ovi’s fault the net is empty.” And honestly? Facts. Even NHL analyst Dave Reid couldn’t help but admire Ovi’s latest masterpiece against the Flyers.

Reid didn’t just praise the goal—he straight-up called it “a classic goal scorer’s goal.” He broke it down, saying “All you need to do is get the puck to the net. He doesn’t need the open net. He doesn’t need the big shot. He just needs to make sure he gets the puck to the net.” And then came the ultimate comparison—he said it reminded him of Mike Bossy. Yep, the Mike Bossy, one of the smoothest snipers the NHL has ever seen. If that’s not an elite company, what is?