From 1 to 500: Malkin's Milestone Goals

Sidney Crosby really wanted to find a way to factor in on Evgeni Malkin’s 500^th goal, and it worked out.

On Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena, the captain set up his fellow franchise center for the milestone marker. Malkin became the 48^th member of that prestigious club, and just the second Russian player after Alex Ovechkin. The Penguins are also now just the second team in NHL history to have three 500-goal scorers with Malkin, Crosby and Mario Lemieux.

“The way he did it, that was a pretty awesome goal. I'll have a great memory of that one,” Crosby said. “I had a front-row seat to watch him do it. We’re just really happy for him. We know how hard it is to get to that number and how long and how well he's been doing it for. That’s a great achievement, and I’m proud of him.”

The Penguins captain also saw Malkin’s first-ever goal in the National Hockey League up close in his much-anticipated debut on Oct. 18, 2006 against the New Jersey Devils. Ryan Whitney earned the primary assist, Mark Recchi recorded the secondary, and Sergei Gonchar got a plus.

We caught up with the four players who were on the ice with Malkin for that milestone tally in honor of his latest achievement.

Whitney: “I don't remember much from the play. I just remember the excitement of having him there, and it all kind of started the year prior. It must have been the last one of the last few home games. They put a video on the screen at the Igloo, almost like a movie preview, that was like, ‘coming soon.’ It was cool music, and all of a sudden it was just highlights, because he'd already been in the Olympics. It was best on best that year in 2006. Then it was all these Russian highlights, and it was just like… you could hear the crowd and the players being like, oh my God. Like, obviously, this guy is something special – and next year, he's gonna be here. Then there was the excitement in camp too, because the year before it was Crosby's first camp, then (Jordan) Staal’s coming with Malkin. That camp was just like, oh my God, I can't believe that we've added what looks to be another superstar. So for him to score his first game was no surprise, because he had been so good in camp leading up. Like, he had lived up to all the hype.”

Crosby: “Obviously, he came over my second year. Just waiting patiently for him to come over, hoping that it was sooner than later, and just having the opportunity to watch him prior to that, knowing how good he was. Obviously, you don't even know, but he just seemed special right from the start. I remember that every time he touched the puck that night, there was, like, this anticipation. The crowd was so into it. That was a lot of fun to be a part of.”

Recchi: “I played with Geno a lot his first training camp and the start of the year early on. It might have been on a line. I know I was kind of bouncing around between Sid, him and even Jordan (Staal) at times. I couldn't believe the size, the skating, the mobility he had, how competitive he was. I mean, everything just stood out right away. And it was like, hooollly… like, this kid’s a big kid. It was pretty impressive to see.”

Prior to that first game, Malkin had dealt with an injury after dislocating his shoulder in a preseason game on Sep. 4. Compounded with his escape from Russia, it had the 19-year-old questioning everything, as he detailed in this feature about that night.

Crosby: “He missed some of the first games, and we didn’t know how long he was going to be out for or how serious it was. The fact that he avoided anything really serious and he was back pretty quickly, I think that was huge, and then he scored in his first handful of games. It was pretty incredible. I was just really happy for him; I think we all were. We knew the process that it took for him to get to us, and then obviously being hurt before.”

Gonchar: “You have to remember, I played with him during the lockout the year prior. So, I knew the talent and the skill that he had… but obviously the injury in training camp was scary. You have to understand that he was leaving the country, (which was a) scandal. They told him that he can go, but then they told him they would prefer him to stay. So, because of that, there's a lot of pressure, and I felt bad for him. Because think about it, you live in the country, and they are telling you to stay, then you got an injury… so, when he scored that goal, I was so happy. You could kind of see the relief on his face, because with all the complications that he had prior to that game… so him scoring that was probably much bigger than just first goal in the NHL.”

On the play, Recchi broke the puck out of Pittsburgh’s end to Malkin, who carried it into the offensive zone. He dished it back to Recchi, who quickly released a shot on Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. Both players followed up the play, with Malkin poking the puck over the line. Brodeur immediately starting gesturing to the refs, wanting a call.

Crosby: “Honestly, I was really excited for him, and then I went from being really excited to nervous because I was like, ‘maybe they might call this back.’ I wasn’t sure if the whistle went, it was a little bit of a delay. I was just really hoping that it counted. I knew that was going to be one of many, but I was happy he got that one.”

Gonchar: “I know what Sid is talking about, but for some reason, that moment, it didn't strike to me that way. Because to me, since he got the goal, all the emotions came out. I never had a doubt in my mind that it was going to stand.”

Recchi: “Him, Sid, all their first goals were incredible. They're high draft picks, lots of pressure on them. Everybody's thinking, everybody's waiting for it to happen. For them to get their first goals, it's always a huge boost and a huge lift for them to just get that off their backs. It's special for all their teammates, too. The guys are happy.”

That goal certainly didn’t do justice to the magic Malkin can create when it comes to putting the puck in the net. "It's not pretty, but it's amazing because you're nervous, for sure, first game, after injury," Malkin said. "But this goal gives me confidence, for sure."

Whitney: “I think that as a goal scorer, his shot was so underrated, and he had such a good ability to set guys up that you kind of forgot about his shot. He would end up just having such a quick release and such a great ability to kind of hide his release, that it was so easy for him to score goals… often, we’re thinking past first, and then all of a sudden he'd end up scoring. So, it was like, I think his deception was so good, his passing ability made him that much better of a goal scorer.”

Crosby: “Just the different ways, I mean, he’s got a big shot. And then you see how many times he’s walking through everybody and scored beautiful goals – just the finesse. There’s a lot of different ways that he’s scored. It’s a combination of his size and his speed and skill; consistently over the years, it’s pretty cool. It’s been fun to watch.”

It’s also been so endearing to watch how Malkin celebrates after scoring. Even now at age 38, he still exudes the same passion and enthusiasm that he did as a teenager when that puck crosses the line.

Crosby: “He loves to score, that doesn’t change [smiles]. He’s got that hunger, that determination to find ways however he needs to get them. I think that passion, or that fire, has been there from day one.”

Gonchar: “When you don't know him that well, he doesn't come across as the guy who's very emotional, and then he scores – you can see all those emotions coming out for a few seconds. You can see how much it means to him. Sometimes people are not realizing how much it means to him. Sometimes people feel it happens naturally, and sometimes people do not realize how hard he's working. It's a joy to see that few seconds of him being emotional and open and letting the guard go and showing the emotions, how much it means to him.”

That came across when Malkin reflected on this latest milestone, as he expressed his pride in just what he’s been able to accomplish as someone from a small town in Russia named Magnitogorsk.

Gonchar: “I'm happy for him, because there's not as many people who were able to achieve that. I'm so proud of him that he worked hard for that and what he went through… injuries and staying healthy, looking after himself, doing everything to make sure he can play that role… working hard, because a lot of times we see people with the talent and they're not getting to that milestone because they're not playing long enough, or they're not looking after themselves. I think considering all that stuff, him being so talented and working so hard and staying in the league for that long… I’m really happy for him and proud that he was able to do that. Not that many players are able to do that, but even less players from Russia were able to do that.”