It doesn't take much, to be sure, to get Evgeni Malkin's inner child to emerge.
Considering it's, you know, pretty much his outer personality, anyway:
Oh, my. Even by his long-golden standard, that self-description of his 500th NHL goal, scored in sensational style within the Penguins' 6-5 overtime victory over the Sabres on this Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena, deserves a detailed transcript.
"It's not easy," he began. "It's a long way to score 500, but I'm glad to do it tonight. Finally. Now, l'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. I'm from a small town in Russia, Magnitogorsk, first guy who's done this and the second Russian."
The other, of course, is Alexander Ovechkin.
"I work hard every day, and people probably don't understand that sometimes it's not easy for me. But it's a great story. Sid passed to me. It's amazing. I love it. Again, congrats myself."
Congrats himself?
Just wait. It'll all make sense in a moment.
First, for the record, the goal came at 3:26 of the third period and, as with so many of the first 499, it came when needed, breaking a 3-3 tie.
And, like 140 others, it was assisted by Sidney Crosby on the same night the captain would earlier record his 1,600th NHL point.
Elegantly so, at that:
Wow, right?
Except that, when it's those two, it's just kinda expected. The whole deal. Sid having a Buffalo defenseman, Bowen Byram, draped all over him at the end boards, but still backhanding a blind pass between his own legs -- read that last phrase again in its entirety, please, before proceeding -- while Owen Power basically slid off Geno bursting across the crease, then taking one, two and finally three cracks to ... not just beat Ukko-Pekka Luukonen but to elevate the puck over his left pad.
Still photography sometimes gets it best:
JUSTIN BERL / GETTY
As Bryan Rust, who hoisted Geno up off the ice to begin a celebration that'd soon see the Penguins' bench empty in their direction and the 15,644 on hand go collectively loco, would assess the play, "Pretty spectacular. He’s a guy, over the course of his entire career, who's done a lot of spectacular things, and to have him score a goal like that just kind of summed it up.”
Sid acknowledged he'd hoped to get that assist, saying, "Going into it the last few games here, I wanted to find a way. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way and, obviously, we don’t play together on a line that often, so whether it was power play or that sorta thing, I was hoping that I’d have an opportunity to try and find him. And it worked out."
Twice, no less.
See, Sid would register the only assist on this goal and, back on Feb. 15, 2022 in this same place, it was Geno who got the only assist on Sid's 500th ...
... and it was Geno who'd pounce a couple days later on a Kris Letang Instagram post to playfully stress his own pivotal role in that goal:
Oh, for real: @e.malkin71geno congrats on the assist
Remember that?
Get it all now?
"He set me up so nice there for my 500th that I was hoping I could return the favor," Sid would recall on this night. "His was a little more work than mine. Just a beautiful goal and a huge goal for us, too, in the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep the lead, but that was a big one for us."
The Penguins didn't keep that 4-3 lead and, actually, fell behind, 5-4. But Geno assisted on Rickard Rakell's tying rebound with 46 seconds remaining in regulation ...
Tricky Ricky coming in CLUTCH 💪 pic.twitter.com/tG2uxelWhK
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 17, 2024
... and on Sid's winner at 1:38 of overtime:
SIDNEY CROSBY, OUR OVERTIME HERO! pic.twitter.com/3JueoKyW4p
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 17, 2024
"I don't know how it worked, but I’m the only assist to him on 500, and he's the only assist to me,” Malkin said. “Like, it's crazy. Sometimes I don't understand how this works. But this is a great story for me and him. We probably deserve that, to share this night together.”
Which they did:
PENGUINS
"I remember watching Geno play," Sid recalled of Geno's time still in Russia all through Sid's rookie year. "Obviously, he came over in my second year and I just waited patiently for him to come over, hoping it was sooner rather than later. Just having the opportunity to watch him prior to that, knowing how good he was, obviously you don’t ever know, but he just seemed special from the start, and I think that I did envision that. That’s the way I was hoping it would work out, and it has, and I’m super grateful for it. And I think that, whether it's moments like tonight, or other things that we’ve shared, good and bad, it’s been pretty incredible to be part of the team and play with him."
Goosebumpy enough yet?
Sid was asked about their friendship despite being about as different as two characters can be off the ice.
"I think we just care a lot about the team, we want to win, and we expect a lot of each other. But I think there’s a of respect there too. We’ve been through a lot together, so there’s also a lot of trust. On top of that, you look at the people who've been in this organization over the time we’ve been here, that helps a lot, too. You can go right through all the players and management, everyone who's been a part of this organization, ownership ... we’ve been pretty fortunate to be here. So to be able to share this together is special."
“I couldn’t be prouder of them and happier for them," Mike Sullivan would say. "I just think what they’ve accomplished here in Pittsburgh is remarkable. They just keep racking up more milestones as they continue to play. I thought Geno’s goal, and Sid being a part of it, was appropriate given the years that they’ve played together. It was a pretty emotional moment for our whole team. You could see the raw emotion when the guys were going over the boards. It’s hard to put it into words. It’s an incredible privilege to coach these guys and just watch them do what they do every day. They’re two of the greatest players of all time.”
There are a million mileposts within an achievement like this, and I'll let the graphics below carry that load, but my favorite by far: There are now precisely two NHL franchises to have three 500-goal scorers: The Canadiens, with Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau and Maurice 'Rocket' Richard, and the one that plays here.
Enjoy ...
PENGUINS
