Crosby and Malkin have milestone nights in Sabres win

Crosby scored his 1,600th point and Malkin scored his 500th goal.

It was a milestone night last night at PPG Paints Arena for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Sidney Crosby scored his 1,600th assist and Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th goal in the Penguins thriller of an overtime 6-5 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres.

It was a fitting pair of milestones for the two Penguins legends.

Crosby’s 1,600th point came midway through the 1st period of last night’s game when Bryan Rust netted a power-play goal.

Malkin then hit his own milestone when he scored his 500th career goal with an assist from none other than Crosby.

Crosby and Malkin are the second duo to score 500 goals as teammates, joining Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri from their days with the Oilers.

The Penguins are the second team in NHL history to have three players with 500 or more goals, with Mario Lemieux being the third. The Canadiens are the other team.

Two years ago, Malkin assisted Crosby on his 500th goal and Crosby was able to return the favor Wednesday night.

“We probably deserve that,” Malkin said of how Crosby was the one who assisted on the milestone goal.

113 different players have assisted on Malkin’s 500 goals with Sidney Crosby at the top of that list with 140 assists. Kris Letang is second on the list with 87 assists.

I’m glad the fans are really supporting me,” Malkin said after the game. I feel like it’s always a pleasure to play here, this city. Lots of good friends here. I’m excited tonight… it’s everything that was perfect for me tonight – score, win.”

Malkin is currently leading the NHL in scoring with 11 points in five games.