Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th career goal against the Buffalo Sabers on Wednesday at PPG Paints. With the Russian's historic top player, supported by captain Sidney Crosby, he gave the Penguins organization three 500-goal goals in its history.

First, Mario Lemieux reached the plateau on October 26, 1995, and then, 27 years later, Crosby scored his 500th goal on February 15, 2022. After Malkin joined the club, Pittsburgh became the second franchise in NHL history to have three 500-goal scorers, after the Montreal Canadiens.

Historically, Maurice “Rocket” Richard was the first player to score 500 goals, setting the record on October 19, 1957. Almost two decades later, Jean Beliveau achieved his milestone goal on February 11, 1971, becoming the fourth player to score so many goals. Finally, on December 20, 1983, Guy Lafleur became Montreal's third player to reach 500 goals.

It would have been fitting for Malkin to reach the milestone in the first meeting between the Penguins and Canadiens at the Bell Centre, but he scored his 499th goal on an empty net.

Building one of the best Mount Rushmore lineups in NHL history, Pittsburgh fans have been fortunate to see some of the all-time greats wear the black and gold over the last four decades.

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