Evgeni Malkin left his mark on the Stanley Cup playoffs this week
Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. © AP Photo / Gene J. Puskar
Hockey center Evgeni Malkin has made his name in the history books with his latest feat for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 35-year-old netted the last goal in the Penguins’ 7-2 hammering of the New York Rangers on Monday night, and therefore surpassed Sergei Fedorov (176) as the Russian with the most points in Stanley Cup playoffs history.
Malkin now boasts 177 points in total in the playoffs, where his team are currently leading their Metropolitan Division rivals 3-1 after the impressive Game Four win while needing just one more victory to advance to the second round.
Malkin has notched three points in the best-of-seven series thus far, and his 177 tally overall takes in 66 goals and 111 assists since arriving at the Penguins in the 2006/2007 season.
With this goal, Evgeni Malkin surpassed Jaromir Jagr for third place on the Penguins' all-time playoff goals list with 66! pic.twitter.com/x9edq9YvD0
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 10, 2022
Malkin was meant to join the franchise in 2004 as a second overall pick behind compatriot Alexander Ovechkin until a transfer dispute broke out between the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
In August 2006, however, Malkin was finally able to leave Metallurg Magnitogorsk and made his debut for the Penguins the month after.
During his time in North America, Malkin has been a one-club man and has helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cup crowns in 2009, 2016 and 2017 alongside all-time great Sidney Crosby.
Malkin’s 66th goal in the finals also saw him pass club legend Jaromir Jagr to occupy third in the Penguins’ all-time playoff goals list topped by Mario Lemieux (76) and Crosby (71).
AND THE POINT AFTER IS GOOD! Malkin makes it 7-2 for the black and gold! pic.twitter.com/003j3uBWFK
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 10, 2022
Regarding total points scored in the playoffs, though, Malkin has already pipped Lemieux (172) and trails only Crosby on 200.
As a seven-time All-Star, Malkin has also made the First All-Star team on three occasions and was picked for the IIHF equivalent three times too.
With Russia, Malkin is a 2012 world champion and was the scoring leader on 19 points and MVP that year in Finland and Sweden.
Finland will also host the IIHF World Championship this month. Yet Malkin can’t take part due to the playoffs plus Russia’s exclusion as part of IIHF sanctions related to the military operation in Ukraine, with Russia stripped of hosting rights in 2023 too.
Back with the Penguins, they are looking to improve on their showing in the playoffs last year when the Rangers’ cross-city rivals the New York Islanders beat them 4-2 at this stage of the competition.
As for all-time top scoring Russians in the playoffs, Malkin and Federov have first and second place safely locked down for the time being with veteran Ovechkin on 139 points and 28-year-old Nikita Kucherov on 132 points trailing them by some way in third and fourth respectively.
