Sidney Crosby (30) and Alex Ovechkin (32) aren’t old, but they’re old enough to really start piling up impressive milestones.
Each superstar made some history on Thursday with assists. In the case of Ovechkin, he collected the 500th assist on his career, although Evgeny Kuznetsov’s helper was the real “wow” moment of Nicklas Backstrom’s goal. (See that in the video above this post’s headline.)
Ovechkin joins some select company, as he’s closing in on 600 goals. This is the 970th regular-season game of his career.
Alex Ovechkin recorded his 500th career assist on Nicklas Backstrom's goal. Ovechkin is one of 15 active players with 500 assists and one of just four active players to record at least 500 career goals and 500 career assists (Jaromir Jagr, Marian Hossa, Patrick Marleau) . pic.twitter.com/uMCtqiMv0q
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 26, 2018
Crosby’s first assist on Thursday gave him his 1,080th point with the Penguins, placing him ahead of Jaromir Jagr at second all-time for franchise scoring.
With that assist, Crosby surpasses Jaromir Jagr for 2nd place on the #Pens all-time scoring list at 1,080. The only man left to catch is Mario Lemieux (1,723). -SK
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 26, 2018
It’s a pretty sweet one, too, with Crosby using his peripheral vision to set the table for Dominik Simon:
As of this writing, Crosby has three assists in this game. This is just the 833rd game of Crosby’s career, so yes, this is a remarkable run; Jagr scored his 1,080 points in just 806 games. Both players = ridiculous.
In case you’re wondering, Evgeni Malkin has a ways to go to pass Jagr as well. Geno came into Thursday with 881 points in 752 games, adding two goals and an assist against an overmatched Wild team. The Penguins ended up winning 6-3.
Ovechkin’s Capitals look like they’re in line for a postseason berth, while the Penguins are looking increasingly likely to grind their way into the playoffs, too. That’s likely most important to both players, but maybe they can take a moment to enjoy some of these outstanding individual accomplishments.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.