Two Penguins Legends Break Records On The Same Night
Pittsburgh Penguins fans have enjoyed watching Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin play hockey together at a high level for a while now. They still make jaw-dropping plays that bring PPG Paints Arena to its feet, even if Tristan Jarry tries to ruin it. On Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, the two-headed monster decided to break records in a home game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Slap Me Silly, Sidney!
Sidney Crosby needed just one point to hit the 1,600-point plateau. He got it on an assist on a first-period goal by Bryan Rust, one of his longtime linemates. This made Crosby the 10th player in NHL history to reach the 1,600-point mark. A feat achieved by few but dreamed about by many.
Crosby also became the fifth fastest player to the mark, behind the elite company of Wayne Gretzky, Marcell Dionne, Jaromir Jagr, and his former linemate Mario Lemieux. That’s not a bad table to sit at. For reference, Gretzky did it in just 667 games, while it took Crosby 1,277 games to achieve it. That’s how different Gretzky was.
It has been a long time since Crosby registered his first NHL point in his debut on October 5th, 2005, in a game against the New Jersey Devils. He assisted on a Mark Recchi goal, and the rest is history. Crosby started his rookie season with points in nine out of his first ten games, including four multi-point games. Unfortunately, the Penguins began the season 0-9 before getting their first win.
Make Me A Milkshake, Malkin!
In the third period of the same game, Evgeni Malkin scored a beautiful goal from his backside for his 500th career goal. Two Penguins legends make history on the same night, a beautiful sight. Of course, his 500th career goal was assisted by none other than Sidney Crosby. The two are inseparable. It’s tough to talk about one without mentioning the other and they made sure of it on Wednesday night.
This comes almost 18 years to the day of Malkin’s first career goal. In his NHL debut on October 18th, 2006, against the New Jersey Devils and legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur, Malkin tickled the twine for the first time. He went on a tear to start his career, registering goals in six straight games. By this point, the NHL knew they were in trouble with Crosby and Malkin in Pittsburgh together, and they went on to run the NHL for years to come.
The whole team poured onto the ice to celebrate number 500 with Malkin. The Penguins put the icing on the cake by winning in overtime 6-5. Crosby scored the game-winning goal in the sudden-death period, assisted by Erik Karlsson and, you guessed it, Malkin. Run from them, hide from them; they always show up. Although they may be winding down to their final years in Pittsburgh, it’s been a generational run for the duo.
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