Milestone Matchup Between Penguins' Crosby and Malkin

Which Pittsburgh Penguins star will hit their next milestone first?

Every season over the past few years has contained milestone moments for the Pittsburgh Penguins' two-headed monster. The upcoming campaign will be no different for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The Penguins' franchise cornerstones are coming off a year in which they celebrated special milestones. Malkin became just the second player to ever play 1,000 games as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the eighth Russian-born player to reach that milestone in the NHL.

Crosby beat the buzzer on the 2022-23 season, reaching 1,500 points in the final week of the regular season with a three-point performance against the Detroit Red Wings.

Both Malkin and Crosby enter this season with new milestones ahead of them. Crosby sits 88 points behind Phil Esposito for tenth on the NHL's all-time scoring list. The 35-year-old Penguins captain has eclipsed over a point per game in each of his first 18 seasons, so if he remains healthy, it is a fair assumption that he'll land somewhere between 80-90 points during the 2023 season.

Malkin's next milestone may also take the entire season as he sits 29 goals from 500 in his career. The 500-goal plateau carries great significance in the NHL world. 39 of the 47 players to reach that mark have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, with players like Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin, and Patrick Marleau well on their way to joining that list.

Very few would dispute Malkin's claim as a Hall of Fame talent. However, becoming the 48th player in NHL history and the third Russian-born player to reach that mark would seal his position in Toronto.

Malkin finished last season with 27 goals, his highest total since the 2017-18 season when he finished with 42. Heading into his age 37 season, Malkin will have to find another gear in 2023 to reach 30 goals once again and 500 on his career. 

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