Evgeni Malkin notched his 500th career goal and Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner on a night when he netted his 1,600th career point as the host Pittsburgh Penguins claimed a 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
Malkin became the 48th player in NHL history to net 500 goals. He is the second from Russia (joining Alex Ovechkin) and third player in franchise history (Crosby and Mario Lemieux) to reach that milestone.
Crosby is only the 10th player to reach 1,600 points.
Malkin, who contributed three assists to increase his NHL-leading total to nine, has seven points in his past two games. Crosby finished with one goal and two assists.
Pittsburgh’s Drew O’Connor and Bryan Rush both netted one goal and one assist, while Jesse Puljujarvi and Rickard Rakell added a goal apiece. Goaltender Joel Blomqvist stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced in a relief performance.
JJ Peterka scored twice for the Sabres, while Tage Thompson, Jordan Greenway and Ryan McLeod each scored once. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves.
Crosby netted the winner 1:38 into overtime by converting Erik Karlsson’s cross-ice pass for a power-play goal. His first tally of the season closed out a thrilling game.
The stage for a roller-coaster contest was set when Thompson opened the scoring on the game’s first shot only 43 seconds into the affair for his third goal of the season. Greenway doubled the lead with his team’s second offering on net at the 3:08 mark.
Rust, on a goal set up by Crosby for his milestone point, put the Penguins on the board with his first of the season at 11:01 of the opening period.
Peterka, back after missing two games with a concussion, restored Buffalo’s two-goal edge 32 seconds later. That spelled the end of the game for starting Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who stopped only two of the five shots he faced.
The Penguins responded to take the lead with three consecutive goals. O’Connor’s short-handed marker at 9:12 of the second period made it a one-goal game. It was his second tally of the season. Puljujarvi tied the clash six minutes later, his first of the campaign.
Malkin put the Penguins ahead at 3:26 of the third period by converting on his own rebound chance for his second goal of the season.
However, Peterka, with his second of the game and the season, and McLeod scored 40 seconds apart midway through the third period put Buffalo ahead again.
Rackell’s tying goal with 46 seconds remaining in regulation sent the game to overtime.
