Evgeni Malkin notches 500 assists

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had a pretty massive milestone to focus on as of late, waiting for Sidney Crosby to finally hit 1,000 points in his career.

And he did it during Kris Letang’s 600th game! Two milestones.

Well, you know about how events and the like come in threes? Evgeni Malkin recorded his 500th assist against the Blue Jackets, and so: another milestone achieved. He’s the fourth Penguin to do it, after Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and, of course, Sidney Crosby.

Malkin, in 694 games played, has scored 319 goals and 500 assists, for a total of 819 points.

He isn’t next in line for 1,000 points, but his 1.18 career points per game is greater than every player above him other than Jagr, Alexander Ovechkin, and Crosby (who leads the way by a fair amount with his 1.322).

They’ve been a historic duo. Via the Elias Sports Bureau:

Malkin and Crosby are the third pair of active NHL players who’ve each racked up at least 500 assists for their current club. The others are Joe Thornton (712) and Patrick Marleau (568) for the Sharks, and the Sedin twins, Henrik (771) and Daniel (607), for the Canucks.

The other duos have all hit 1,000 points, except for Daniel Sedin, who has 26 points to go. Malkin’s proooobably gonna get there sooner or later, knock on wood.

What other milestones are coming up for the Penguins? Well Phil Kessel needs six goals for 300, and Letang needs three assists for 300. Things are going pretty well for these players overall, wouldn’t you say?