Carter Gets 400th Goal: "Hopefully I Can Hang Around to Score a Lot More"

Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin. And now, Jeff Carter.
When healthy, they are the Penguins' top three centers. Now, they are also three of just seven active players to reach 400 career goals in the NHL.

Carter added his name to that exclusive list with a second-period tally in a 5-4 overtime loss against the Florida Panthers on Thursday at FLA Live Arena.
Along with Crosby (486) and Malkin (404), Carter joins Alex Ovechkin (732), Steven Stamkos (439), Joe Thornton (425) and Patrick Kane (404).

The goal, Carter's first of the new season, came on the power play when he was trying to center a pass to Bryan Rust. It ended up deflecting off of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad's stick before getting past Sergei Bobrovsky.
"I was going to Rusty. He was driving back door," Carter said. "I've scored a lot of those goals. You put it on net, a lot of times something happens. Take 'em any way they can come. Hopefully I can hang around to score a lot more."
The Penguins hope so too, as Carter has made his impact felt on multiple fronts since joining the organization at the trade deadline last season. He scored nine goals and 11 points in Pittsburgh's final 14 regular-season games last year, helping the team go 10-3-1 en route to winning the ninth division title in team history.
Now with Crosby (wrist) and Malkin (knee) both sidelined for varying lengths of time to start the season after undergoing offseason surgeries, the 36-year-old veteran has taken on that first-line center role. He's picked up right where he left off last season, with three points (1G-2A) and nine shots through two games. Carter has also been a leader in the locker room and on the ice with his calming presence.

"It's hard for me to articulate what he means to our team, especially right now," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's just a high-character person. He's a great person. He fit into our dressing room from the first day he walked in. The fact that he scored 400 goals is just an indication of how good a hockey player he is, and how good of a hockey player he is for so long.
"I think he's playing great hockey for us right now. He means so much to this team. He's a good leader. He's a real good hockey player. And like I said, I think he enhances the leadership that we already have, and that's what he's done from Day 1 since he's become a Penguin."