It's OK, no one remembers who gave up the record-breaking goal

Here's one for trivia night at the bar: What do Wade Flaherty, Charley Hodge, and Kirk McLean have in common?

All three were on the wrong end of record-breaking moments. Flaherty was in net for the New York Islanders when Wayne Gretzky scored his 894th - and final - NHL regular-season goal. Hodge was tending the crease for the Montreal Canadiens in 1963 when Gordie Howe surpassed Maurice Richard's then-record career goal total. Kirk McLean was with the Vancouver Canucks 21 years ago when Gretzky beat him for his 802nd career goal, breaking Howe's mark.

Don't feel bad if you didn't know any of this. The funny thing about being the goalie in net for a career-total record is that no one remembers that part.

As the hockey world waits for Alex Ovechkin to break Gretzky's goal record, attention has been given to the person who might surrender No. 895. The NHL's media arm published a feature on Flaherty, who didn't seem particularly concerned one way or the other that he'll no longer be the goaltender who was beaten for the league's career record. He will, after all, always be the last guy Gretzky scored on.

The Athletic, meanwhile, published a piece in which three writers chased down several goalies who might give up Ovechkin's 895th. It turned out to be a lot of effort for not a lot because no one sounded terribly fussed about the idea. "I have my own problems," said Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin in the article's standout quote.

The goalies have a point. To the extent that anyone remembers these record-breaking goals, it's in the images of the player with his arms in the air, being mobbed by teammates before the inevitable on-ice ceremony. The camera doesn't linger on the goaltender for long because that guy is just a bit player in the story.

That's particularly true of career records because the moments themselves are otherwise meaningless in the context of the game in which they happen. Gretzky's final goal, a shoveled rebound past Flaherty, came in a late-March contest when he was with the New York Rangers. They would lose five of their last eight games and miss the playoffs.

This isn't just a hockey thing, either. What binds Steve Trachsel and Mike Bacsik together? Both were major-league pitchers, yes. But also, Bacsik surrendered Barry Bonds' 756th career home run, breaking Hank Aaron's record. And Trachsel allowed Mark McGwire's 62nd home run, breaking Roger Maris' single-season milestone in 1998. Those moments, relative to the record-breaking goals of Gretzky and Howe, drew much more attention. Baseball games routinely used to cut into coverage to show the live at-bats of Bonds, McGwire, and Sammy Sosa during their home-run chases.

And yet, the guys who served up the record-breaking pitches? Easily forgotten.

Compare those moments with, say, the Kirk Gibson home run in the opening game of the 1988 World Series. There's a good chance you know who gave it up without even consulting the internet. That's because Dennis Eckersley was part of the story, the unhittable Oakland closer who somehow surrendered a two-run bomb to a guy who could barely walk. (Eckersley would provide another franchise-defining home run ball four years later to Roberto Alomar and the Blue Jays in the 1992 ALCS.) Sports fans tend to remember those types of history - the goals and shots that become defining moments of title wins that send stadiums into bedlam because everyone understands a championship-winning thing just happened.

Do you know about Kenrich Williams' contribution to basketball history? The Oklahoma City Thunder forward was the defender on LeBron James' shot that broke the NBA career scoring record two years ago. (You could be forgiven for not noticing Williams since he didn't put much effort into contesting LeBron's fadeaway.) And yet, the guys who were in the frame for two of Michael Jordan's most famous shots - Bryon Russell and Craig Ehlo - are easily recalled by basketball fans precisely because those moments were series clinchers. Those are the highlights that live on in the memory.

But even if the goaltender who gives up Ovechkin's record-breaker is unlikely to be haunted by it, a piece of advice to whoever it is: Go and hang out at the bench for a while.

Eric Show, who gave up Pete Rose's record-breaking 4,192nd hit while pitching for the San Diego Padres, became an awkward part of the story because he sat down on the mound during the on-field celebrations. Some of Show's teammates took issue with what they viewed as disrespect to Rose, and there was almost a clubhouse fight. Family members later said that Show dreaded giving up Rose's record-breaking hit, which is odd since everyone knew Rose would get the record eventually.

There's perhaps a lesson for the goalie who's there for Ovechkin's No. 895: It's going to happen at some point. It might as well be on you.

Scott Stinson is a contributing writer for theScore.