Penguins' Evgeni Malkin gives his honest opinion on reaching historic milestone for Russian player

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Dec 29, 2023 18:55 GMT

Evgeni Malkin took center stage in a recent game against the New York Islanders as the Pittsburgh Penguins made a triumphant return from the holiday break. The game was defined by several noteworthy milestones, including Valtteri Puustinen's inaugural goal and Kris Letang's remarkable feat of six assists.

Yet, it was Malkin, the seasoned center and alternate captain for the Penguins, who seized the spotlight with a performance that would go down in history as the most significant moment of the night.

After scoring the second goal of the game, Malkin surpassed the legendary Sergei Fedorov, claiming the title for the most goals by a Russian-born player with an impressive tally of 484. This achievement positions Malkin just behind another Russian icon, Alex Ovechkin, in the list of top goal-scorers among Russian players in the NHL.

Speaking about surpassing Fedorov's goal record, Malkin expressed his deep admiration for the former Russian star.

"First of all, I want to say he's my mind. I think he's the best Russian player of all time," Malkin said (via Dan Potash on X).

Malkin shared the impact Fedorov had on him during his formative year.

"When I was growing up, I looked at how he was playing. We were really good friends, you know."

While Malkin acknowledged that the milestone is essentially a numerical feat, he couldn't deny its emotional significance.

Malkin added:

"I know it's like, it's pretty, like big for me, you know, it's like. I know it's just numbers, but I won't say I feel like can score. We know it's a nice number, like 500."

Sergei Fedorov, the player Malkin surpassed, is the current general manager of CSKA Moscow in the KHL. Fedorov's illustrious career spanned over 1,200 NHL games, scoring 483 goals.

Penguins Star Evgeni Malkin secured consecutive Stanley Cup victories

Evgeni Malkin played a crucial role in the Pittsburgh Penguins' consecutive Stanley Cup victories during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, leading the 2017 playoffs with an impressive 28 points. His performance made him the 29th NHL player to accumulate 150 playoff points.

On March 12, 2019, Malkin became the 88th player in league history to score 1,000 NHL points. Despite initial speculation about entering free agency, Malkin stayed with the Penguins, signing a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension on July 12, 2022.

Celebrating his 1,000th NHL game on November 23, Malkin joined Sidney Crosby as the only player to reach this milestone with the Penguins, later joined by teammate Kris Letang.