BUFFALO — Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic scored a goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday night.
Nedeljkovic scored into an empty net at 17:18 of the third period after the Sabres pulled their goalie for an extra skater. Nedeljkovic also assisted on forward Cody Glass’ goal in the second period.
Nedeljkovic is the first goaltender in NHL history to score and assist on a goal in a game. He is the 16th goalie to score a goal and second this season, joining the Minnesota Wild’s Filip Gustavsson who scored in a win over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 15, 2024.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing the puck,” Nedejlkovic said as teammates chanted his nickname “Ned!” repeatedly in the visitor’s dressing room.
“Growing up, I watched some of the best guys do it. Marty Turco, Marty Brodeur were two guys I watched a lot and learned a lot from in terms of puck handling. It’s been part of my game as long as I can remember. It started just from conversations with my dad in the car telling me, ‘Don’t just throw the puck around the boards. Every time you get it, try to make a smart play with it. Put it on guys’ tape. Don’t just do it if you’re going to do it. At least try to do something with it.’
“So from that now we’re a little more structured and making tape-to-tape passes with the D and getting good clears and stuff like that. It’s really exciting right now.”
FIRST GOALIE WITH A GOAL AND AN ASSIST IN A GAME IN NHL HISTORY 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wQ8XYPtEY5
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 18, 2025
The Penguins have ties to the last three NHL goalies to score a goal. Gustavsson is a former prospect, a second-round selection by the Penguins in 2016 before he was traded to the Wild. Tristan Jarry scored a goal for the Penguins on Nov. 30, 2023, in a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
NHL goalie goals since 2020
|
Player
|
Team
|
Opponent
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Penguins |
Sabres |
Jan. 17. 2025 |
|
|
Wild |
Blues |
Oct. 15, 2024 |
|
|
Penguins |
Lightning |
Nov. 30, 2023 |
|
|
Bruins |
Canucks |
Feb. 25, 2023 |
|
|
Predators |
Blackhawks |
Jan. 9, 2020 |
Nedeljkovic said he knew after retrieving the puck behind the net that he had to shoot it quickly.
“I didn’t know at first if it was on line,” he said. “It could have been in the corner or gotten two feet off the ground or not even left the ice. I wasn’t sure. I got a little bump from one of there guys who spun me around again. I didn’t see it until it was at the far blue. At that point I saw it was on line but I saw it was on the ice so I didn’t think it had much to it. But everybody was going nuts.
“I saw (Erik Karlsson) had his arms in the air and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to go in.’ Straight beeline to the bench after that.”
Penguins winger Bryan Rust was on the ice when Nedeljkovic took his shot at history.
“I’m out there, and I see a relatively soft rim. I’m, like, ‘He’s getting it; we’re up by two, I know he’s probably shooting it,’” Rust said.
“So I just kind of stood there and watched the rest of however many seconds it was. You see him take off for the bench and everyone just mauled him. It was cool.”
Nedeljkovic also made 40 saves for the Penguins, who are only a day removed from placing Jarry in the AHL after he cleared waivers.
Alex Nedeljkovic with the puck from the goal he scored against the Sabres on Jan. 17, 2025 (Photo: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)
Jarry signed a five-year contract in July 2023 and was ticketed to be the Penguins’ franchise goalie. Nedeljkvoic signed a one-year contract that summer, and eventually supplanted Jarry as the starting goalie late last season. Nedeljkovic re-signed last summer for two years.
He is no stranger to scoring goalies. Nedeljkovic also netted goals in an AHL and ECHL game.
(Photo: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)
