Malkin reaches 500 NHL goals for Penguins in game against Sabres

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th NHL goal Wednesday for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena.

The 38-year-old is the 48th player in NHL history to hit the milestone and fourth active, joining Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (853), longtime teammate and fellow center Sidney Crosby (593) and Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos (555).

“First, those are great names. Second, it’s like, not bad myself,” Malkin said. “I’m trying to do my best. When you play against Ovechkin, you’re trying to be better. Same, like, we play with Sid, same team. But I’m trying to do my best. He’s probably looking to me.

“I push to him. He push to me. We try to help each other. ... Finally, I score. Now, I’m relaxed. Not think too much. Sleep better. Just play hockey.”

Malkin scored at 3:26 of the third period. After taking a Crosby backhand pass from behind the net, he knocked in a rebound of his own shot while on his back.

“It's a great story. Sid pass to me. It's amazing. I love it,” said Malkin, who leads the League with 11 points (two goals, nine assists) after adding three assists in the win. “And again, congrats myself."

Crosby scored 1:38 into overtime and reached 1,600 NHL points with his first of two assists, a secondary assist on a power-play goal from Bryan Rust at 11:01 of the first period.

Malkin had the lone assist when Crosby scored his 500th goal on Feb. 15, 2022.

“Just really happy for ‘Geno.’ Obviously, for him to get his 500th and just to get the win,” Crosby said. “It was a wild one. I think, early in the season, we have to find ways to still learn from these. But for him to get it the way he got it and to find a way to win it, that was huge.

“I wanted to [assist on Malkin’s 500th]. Going into it, the last few games here, I wanted to find a way. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Obviously, we don’t play together on a line that often. So whether it was power play, or that sort of thing, I was hoping I would have the opportunity to try to find him. It worked out. He set up me so nice there for my 500th. I was hoping I could return the favor.”

Malkin is third on the Penguins goal list, behind Mario Lemieux (690) and Crosby. He is also third with 1,307 points (Lemieux, 1,723; Crosby, 1,602) and 807 assists (Lemieux, 1,033; Crosby, 1,009).

Selected No. 2 in the 2004 NHL Draft, Malkin has played 1,150 games, the second most for Pittsburgh, trailing Crosby (1,277).

“I remember watching ‘Geno’ play and, obviously, he came over in my second year,” Crosby said, “but just waiting patiently for him to come over and hoping that it was sooner than later. Just having the opportunity to watch him prior to that, knowing how good he was, obviously you don’t ever know but he just seemed special right from the start.

“That’s what I was hoping it would work out as. And it has. I’m super grateful for it. I think whether it’s moments like tonight or things we’ve shared, good and bad, it’s been pretty incredible to be part of the team and play with him over this amount of time.”

Malkin had 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) last season, second on the Penguins to Crosby (94 points; 42 goals, 52 assists).

“It’s pretty incredible, what he’s accomplished,” said defenseman Kris Letang, who like Crosby has played with Malkin since 2006-07. “Obviously, he’s got the shot. He’s got everything.”

Malkin has won the Stanley Cup with Crosby and Letang three times, first in 2009 when he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 24 games. They won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017.

"I thought Geno's goal and Sid being a part of it was appropriate, given the years that they've played together," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "It was a pretty emotional moment for our whole team. You could see the raw emotion when the guys were going over the boards. It's hard to put it into words. It's an incredible privilege to coach these guys."

In 2008-09, Malkin won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL points leader for the first of two times with a career-high 113 points (35 goals, 78 assists). When Crosby missed 60 games because of concussion-related issues in 2011-12, Malkin led the League with 109 points and scored 50 goals for the only time to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

“It’s not easy. It’s a long way to, like, score 500,” Malkin said. “I’m glad to do it tonight. And, like, finally. Now, I’m more relaxed. First time I want to say, probably, about myself, I’m proud of myself. It’s, like, a great number for me.

“I’m from, like, a small hometown from Russia. You know, Magnitogorsk. First guy [from there] who is doing this, and second Russian. I work hard, like, every day."