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The Road To 1,000 For Malkin & Crosby

Evgeni Malkin recently joined the 1,000 point club. The Malkin and Crosby duo continues to shine.

Evgeni Malkin recently recorded his 1,000th career point, making the Penguins just the second franchise in NHL history to have four different 1,000-point scorers (Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, and Mario Lemieux). The Detroit Red Wings are the only other franchise that can boast of this feat. Malkin and Crosby are two of just five active players with 1,000+ points. The others are Joe Thornton (San Jose), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), and Patrick Marleau (Toronto). Crosby and Malkin also rank first and third in the NHL for total points since the 2006-07 season, with Ovechkin sandwiched between them. Additionally, Malkin and Crosby are the only two active players in the NHL that rank in the top-15 in NHL history in points per game. Malkin ranks 14th all-time, averaging 1.178 points per game and Crosby ranks sixth at 1.293.

Crosby reached the 1,000-point club in February of 2017 and recently recorded his 1,200th career point. It has been quite a run for the Penguins with Crosby and Malkin and they show no signs of slowing down. They currently rank as the eighth highest scoring teammates in NHL history with a combined 2,210 points, just one behind Henrik and Daniel Sedin. It seems like a stretch, but they could catch the dynamic duo of Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio for the top spot with 2,778 points.

Given that just 88 players in the history of the NHL have reached the 1,000-point plateau, I thought it might be interesting to go back and examine how both Malkin and Crosby reached that milestone in their respective careers. For instance, it took Crosby just 757 games (12th-fastest) to reach the milestone and Malkin only 848 games (21st-fastest). While those numbers are certainly impressive, consider that Lemieux accomplished the feat in an unfathomable 513 games (2nd-fastest).

Crosby ?s 1,000 points consisted of 368 goals and 632 assists. Malkin ?s 1,000 points consisted of 391 goals and 609 assists. Both players recorded more of their 1,000 points at home as compared to on the road — Crosby recorded 548 of his 1,000 points on home ice, while Malkin tallied 568 points at home.

Both players are tops on figuring in on each others ? points in their career. Crosby has factored into the most points (303) of Malkin ?s 1,000 by scoring 103 goals off of Malkin passes, setting up 114 Malkin goals, and combining with Malkin to set up 86 goals for other players. Meanwhile, Malkin factored into the most points (262) of Crosby ?s 1,000 by scoring 101 goals off of Crosby assists, setting up 91 Crosby goals, and combining with Crosby to set up 70 goals for other players. On the other end of the spectrum, there were 27 players that factored into just one point of Crosby ?s 1,000 — names like Alain Nasreddine and Lyle Odelein can be found at the bottom of this list. In case you ?re wondering, Lemieux was a part of eight of Crosby ?s 1,000 points. For Malkin, there were 24 players that factored into just one point of his 1,000 — names like Adam Hall and Carl Sneep can be found at the bottom of Malkin ?s list. Exactly 110 players factored into both Crosby and Malkin reaching the 1,000-point mark. Overall, there were 81 cross-over names that contributed to both players ? pursuit of 1,000 points. In a very unique twist, Mark Recchi was a part of the first 1,000 points for Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, and Malkin. Recchi factored into 68 of Crosby’s points, 44 of Lemieux’s, 18 of Malkin’s, and 13 of Jagr’s.

Both Crosby and Malkin have scored the majority of their points against division opponents, but none more than the New York Islanders. Both players recorded more points against the Islanders than any other opponent on their way to 1,000. Crosby recorded exactly 100 of his 1,000 points against the Islanders (31 goals, 69 assists). For Malkin, he tallied 72 of his 1,000 points against the Islanders (28 goals, 44 assists).

Over their careers, the duo has won a combined six Stanley Cups, three Hart Trophies (NHL MVP), four Art Ross Trophies (scoring titles), and three Conn Smythe trophies (playoff MVP). Not too shabby for careers that still have plenty of good seasons ahead. Crosby is signed through the 2024-25 season and Malkin is signed through 2021-22. While 2,000 points may not be in either player ?s future, they will certainly go down as one of the greatest duos in the history of the NHL. Enjoy watching them continue to rewrite the NHL record books Penguins fans.

Professional sports writer, fluent in sarcasm and other humorous arts. Bachelor and Master degrees from Duquesne University. Member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Have previously written for many outlets, including the AP, Sports Xchange, PA SportsTicker, etc. Regularly appear as a guest on local sports radio. Expert at Name That Tune and proficient in many other areas of useless knowledge.