Malkin And Crosby Hit Major Milestones As Penguins Defeat Sabres In

There were a lot of storylines – almost too many to count – in the Penguins’ 6-5 overtime victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

But, as they have time and time again, the biggest stars stole the show.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Evgeni Malkin registered his 500th career goal, and Sidney Crosby notched his 1,600 career point and the overtime game-winner as the Penguins came out on top of a wild, back-and-forth affair. Bryan Rust, Drew O’Connor, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Rickard Rakell also added goals for the Penguins.

Malkin became just the fourth active player to reach the 500-goal milestone, joining Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, and teammate Crosby. He is the 48th player in NHL history to join the 500-goal club.

He also added three assists to help seal the win.

“It’s not easy, it’s a long way to score 500, but I’m glad to do it tonight,” Malkin said. “Finally, I’m score. Now, I’m like, more relaxed, more calm. But for the first time, probably, I want to say I’m proud of myself. It’s a great number for me.”

Crosby had a night to remember as well. He picked up his 1,600th point by assisting on Bryan Rust’s first period power play goal, and he added the lone assist on Malkin’s goal as well as the overtime winner on the power play to cap off a three-point night.

Related: BREAKING: Penguins Center Evgeni Malkin Notches 500th Career Goal

And he was happy to assist Malkin’s 500th goal, just as Malkin had assisted on his.

“I wanted to, going into it the last few games,” Crosby said. “I wanted to find a way. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way. Obviously, we don’t play together on a line that often. So whether it was a power play, or that sort of thing, I was hoping that I had an opportunity to try to find him, and it worked out.”

He continued: “He set up me so nice for my 500th, and I was hoping I could return the favor.”

It’s difficult to quantify just how much these two players have meant to the franchise – and to the…