With his goal on Saturday, Erik Karlsson now sits three points away from tying Markus Naslund (869) for ninth-most points by a Swedish-born player.
Karlsson enters tonight’s game just one goal shy of reaching the 200-goal plateau. Among active blueliners, Karlsson’s 199 career goals rank second in the NHL.
Among Swedish-born defensemen, only Nicklas Lidstrom (264) has more career goals than Karlsson.
Karlsson is just one assist shy of recording his 10th 40-assist season. With his next assist, Karlsson will tie Brian Leetch and Brad Park for the seventh-most 40-assist seasons by a defenseman in NHL history.
Additionally, Karlsson is only one point away from hitting the 50-point mark for the ninth time in his career. When he reaches this mark, he will become just the 15th defenseman in NHL history to have nine or more 50-point seasons.
Karlsson has points in 13 of his last 18 games, which includes a season-long seven-game point streak which ran from Jan. 29-Feb. 23. Since Jan. 29, Karlsson is tied for third in points (17) among all defensemen.
With his assist Tuesday against the Islanders, defenseman Kris Letang is now one point shy of tying Sergei Zubov (771) for the 23rd-most points in NHL history among defensemen.
Since being dealt to the Penguins at the trade deadline, Conor Timmins has brought great offensive production to the backend as the defenseman has four points (1G-3A) in five games. Since his first game on Mar. 9, his plus-7 leads Pittsburgh and ranks sixth in the NHL.
Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game with 10 points (4G-6A) in 13 games since returning from the 4 Nations break. With his assist on Saturday, he tied Anze Kopitar for the 13th-most assists for a single franchise in NHL history, and he is just one assist shy of tying Henrik Sedin for 12th place.
Sidney Crosby had another goal Tuesday night against the Islanders. Over the last five games dating back to March 9, the forward is leading the NHL in goals (5) and is second in points (8).
The Penguins captain has been on an exceptional run at PPG Paints Arena, with points in 11-straight home games dating back to Feb. 1, 2025. During this home point streak, Crosby has posted six goals, 10 assists and 16 points. His 11-game home point streak is third in the league for active home point streaks.
Crosby has notched 63 points (20G-43A) in 44 career games versus the Blue Jackets. Only two players in NHL history have more points against Columbus than Crosby.
Crosby’s 1.43 points-per-game average versus the Blue Jackets ranks third in NHL history (min. 20 GP) behind Nikita Kucherov (1.57) and Joe Sakic (1.46).
Quick Hits
1) The Penguins have scored three or more goals in 20 of their last 26 games against the Blue Jackets, while 15 of those 26 games have been four-plus goal efforts.
2) Tristan Jarry has an 8-2-2 record in 12 starts against the Blue Jackets in his career, with a 2.64 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. His save percentage against the Blue Jackets is his fourth highest against all teams with a minimum of 10 games played.
3) Matt Grzelcyk (1G-30A) is one of just 11 defensemen in the Sidney Crosby era (since 2005-26) to record 30 or more points with the team in one season.
4) Conor Timmins has been plus or even in all five games that he’s played with Pittsburgh.
5) The Penguins own an overall record of 403-92-49 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
