Congrats on the Assist, Geno

After Sidney Crosby scored his 500th career goal last week against Philadelphia, his teammates took to social media to congratulate him - and in one case, themselves.

That night, Kris Letang posted a photo of him, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin - who set up the milestone tally - posing with the game puck to his Instagram account, with the caption, "Congratulations on 500!"
Then in typical hilarious Geno fashion, Malkin replied to the photo from his Instagram account with this comment: "congrats on the assist @emalkin71geno". So when Malkin met with the media today, I prefaced my question by congratulating him as well.

"Yes, yes," he said with a smile, which made everyone laugh and prompted a question of his own: "Why are you laughing? It's hard to assist!"
That being said, Malkin sure has piled up a lot of them during his years of playing alongside Crosby. Malkin's helper was his 109th assist over Crosby's body of work, which ranks first among the 107 total players who have factored into the captain's 500 goals.
"I'm happy for Sid. He's an amazing player," Malkin said. "He deserves everything. And every goal he scores, I'm glad to give him assists. Great memory for me, for sure."
And perhaps in the future, Crosby can return the favor to Malkin, who is currently at 430 career goals and counting.
"I hope someday he can give me an assist on my 500th goal," Malkin said.

It truly meant so much to both Malkin and Letang to be on the ice while their friend made history. As Mike Sullivan said that night, the only way it could have been better is if Letang managed to touch the puck before Malkin made the pass during that first-period power play.
Crosby, Malkin and Letang are currently in their 16th season together, which is the most by a trio in NHL history. They have been through so much together over that time, supporting each other through the lows and celebrating with each other through the highs.
"It's a special moment, for sure. For me, for Sid and for Tanger," Malkin said. "When Sid scored, we three have played together 16 years, and we stay on the ice the same time. When Sid scored, it's a great memory for all of us and for me."