Sidney Crosby wasn't the only one of the Penguins to hit another milestone in the 5-2 win over the Panthers: Evgeni Malkin clinched his 16th point-per-game season in the NHL after picking up two assists.
Bryan Rust's secondary assist on Crosby's goal was his 500th point in the NHL, and he extended that to 501 points by the end of the night with a goal of his own.
"It's really cool," Rust said. "I've been extremely fortunate to play in this league for a long time now, and hopefully have few more years to go. And I played with some really good players who have helped me along the way, both at the beginning, middle and now in my career. So I've got to give a lot of credit to those guys, especially guys like Sid and Geno, who I've played a lot with, Tanger, guys who have gotten a lot of assists or goals on my points. So it's been fun. I can honestly tell you that I didn't think this would ever happen, so it's definitely something that's been fun."
Rickard Rakell didn't hit a milestone of his own -- he didn't move up any major all-time scoring lists, he didn't hit a significant career number for his offensive production.
What Rakell did do, though, was continue his run as one of the hottest scorers in the NHL as of late.
Rakell scored twice in the win -- a power-play tally late in the first, and a goal to extend the lead late in the second. That gave him 24 goals on the season ... and 14 of them came since March 1, 11 of them in the past 10 games alone. Since March, no player in the league has more goals than Rakell. Montreal's Cole Caufield is the only player to equal his mark of 14 in that span. He has points in 16 of his last 17 games.
"He's been playing great," Dan Muse said. "When you get to this point in the year, everyone's got to elevate. It's not a surprise, because he's been getting chances in the past. ... But I think him, like a lot of guys, they know this point of the year, they've got to keep elevating."
THE ASYLUM
'Elevating' Rakell scores twice more
Sidney Crosby wasn't the only one of the Penguins to hit another milestone in the 5-2 win over the Panthers: Evgeni Malkin clinched his 16th point-per-game season in the NHL after picking up two assists.
Bryan Rust's secondary assist on Crosby's goal was his 500th point in the NHL, and he extended that to 501 points by the end of the night with a goal of his own.
"It's really cool," Rust said. "I've been extremely fortunate to play in this league for a long time now, and hopefully have few more years to go. And I played with some really good players who have helped me along the way, both at the beginning, middle and now in my career. So I've got to give a lot of credit to those guys, especially guys like Sid and Geno, who I've played a lot with, Tanger, guys who have gotten a lot of assists or goals on my points. So it's been fun. I can honestly tell you that I didn't think this would ever happen, so it's definitely something that's been fun."
Rickard Rakell didn't hit a milestone of his own -- he didn't move up any major all-time scoring lists, he didn't hit a significant career number for his offensive production.
What Rakell did do, though, was continue his run as one of the hottest scorers in the NHL as of late.
Rakell scored twice in the win -- a power-play tally late in the first, and a goal to extend the lead late in the second. That gave him 24 goals on the season ... and 14 of them came since March 1, 11 of them in the past 10 games alone. Since March, no player in the league has more goals than Rakell. Montreal's Cole Caufield is the only player to equal his mark of 14 in that span. He has points in 16 of his last 17 games.
"He's been playing great," Dan Muse said. "When you get to this point in the year, everyone's got to elevate. It's not a surprise, because he's been getting chances in the past. ... But I think him, like a lot of guys, they know this point of the year, they've got to keep elevating."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!