Penguins Icon Chasing Russian Hockey History
The Pittsburgh Penguins have seen Evgeni Malkin grow into an all-time great over the last 18 seasons.
Over the last 17 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans have watched Evgeni Malkin put together a Hall of Fame worthy career.
Now, entering year 18, one of the Penguins’ all-time greats is closing in on history based from his native country of Russia.
When Malkin picked up an insurance tally against the Calgary Flames, it was the 473rd goal of his career.
473 ties Malkin with Alexander Mogilny for third most goals in the NHL by a Russian born player.
Mogilny played 990 games over his 16-year career and won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2000.
Malkin said he doesn’t focus on those kind of statistics, but did quip about chasing down something even bigger.
“I don’t think about that,” Malkin said. “I try and catch [Alex] Ovechkin maybe.”
Ovechkin not only leads all Russian players in goal scoring, but is chasing down one of the unbreakable records in hockey as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Malkin isn’t going to catch Ovechkin as he closes in on Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goals, but likely no one will catch that for quite some time.
What Malkin can do, however, is quickly move into the second spot for Russian goal scoring.
473 goals puts Malkin just 10 behind Hall of Famer Sergei Fedorov for second in goals by a Russian born player.
Already the second most productive Russian born NHLer with 1,235 points, Malkin will likely finish his career with the second highest amount of goals.
Soon enough, if not already, it’ll be safe to assume Ovechkin and Malkin were two of the best Russian born hockey players of all time.
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