Evgeni Malkin nears milestone with goal No. 499 in Montreal

The Penguins star is now one goal away from NHL history.

Evgeni Malkin is one goal away from NHL history.

His empty-netter on Monday night in Montreal sealed a 6-3 win over the Canadiens while marking the 499th goal of his career.

Malkin is now one tally away from becoming the 48th player in NHL history to hit the 500-goal milestone.

If he hits the plateau, he will be the first player to do so in the last two seasons. The most recent players to hit the 500-goal mark were former Tampa Bay Lightning and current Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos, who achieved the feat in January 2023, and the Penguins’ own Sidney Crosby, who reached the milestone in February 2022.

Malkin’s next tally will also make him the fourth active player to celebrate No. 500 alongside Stamkos, Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, who notched his milestone goal back in January 2016.

The only other active players within range of the milestone are the Detroit Red Wings’ Patrick Kane (471 goals) and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ John Tavares (457 goals.)

The next goal will additionally join Malkin with Crosby as the only active player with 500 goals, 800 assists and 1,300 points (h/t Pens PR.)

Malkin is set to be the 20th player in NHL history to achieve all three milestones, joining a star-studded list (another h/t Pens PR) that currently includes:

1. Wayne Gretzky (2,857 career points)
2. Jaromir Jagr (1,921)
3. Mark Messier (1,887)
4. Gordie Howe (1,850)
5. Ron Francis (1,798)
6. Marcel Dionne (1,771)
7. Steve Yzerman (1,755)
8. Mario Lemieux (1,723)
9. Joe Sakic (1,641)
10. Sidney Crosby (1,598)
11. Phil Esposito (1,590)
12. Mark Recchi (1,533)
13. Stan Mikita (1,467)
14. Bryan Trottier (1,425)
15. Dale Hawerchuk (1,409)
16. Mike Modano (1,374)
17. Johnny Bucyk (1,369)
18. Pierre Turgeon (1,327)
19. Gilbert Perreault (1,326)

Malkin, who is currently sitting at 1,303 career points, was arguably the Penguins’ strongest skater on Monday night as he assisted twice before sending the insurance goal into the Habs’ empty net.

Malkin’s helper on a Rickard Rakell goal in the second period marked the 1,301st point of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla for No. 36 on the NHL’s all-time leaderboard.

Later that night he joined the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin, Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele and St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Kyrou as one of four players with three multi-point games through one week of the 2024-25 season.

Malkin will now have the chance to make history when the Penguins return to PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday for a home game against the Buffalo Sabres. Good thing Malkin has plenty of practice scoring against the Sabres, which are one of eight NHL teams against whom he has racked up at least 20 goals.