Malkin’s milestone night
Evgeni Malkin tore through the Panthers on Saturday — he scored a hat trick in Pittsburgh’s 9–4 win and hit the 1,400 career-point milestone on a power-play goal. That goal made him the 23rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points and he did it in his 1,266th game, a pace that ranks him the 15th-fastest to the mark; the game was also listed as his 14th career hat trick. After the win Malkin admitted the emotion of the night, saying, “I almost cried,” underlining how much the achievement meant to him and his club. (nhl.com) (apnews.com) (nytimes.com)
Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring and never stopped, finishing with three goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 9–4 on April 4, 2026. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) The first goal came on the power play, and that one carried a number as heavy as the net: it was Malkin’s 1,400th career point. (wtop.com) (apnews.com) In hockey, a player’s point total is the sum of goals and assists across a career. Hitting 1,400 means Malkin has been directly involved in that many scoring plays since he entered the league. The milestone put him in rare company: he became the 23rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 points. (wtop.com) (apnews.com) The simple tally hides how fast he got there. Malkin reached 1,400 in his 1,266th NHL game, a pace the Penguins’ staff counted as the 15th‑fastest to that mark. That ranking compares him to the game totals of every player who ever passed the 1,400 threshold. (nhl.com) A hat trick is three goals in one game. Saturday’s performance was the 14th time Malkin has done that in his career, and it came at an age when most players have already slowed; at 39 he became the oldest Penguin to record a hat trick. (newsday.com) (nhl.com) The power play that produced the 1,400th point is a common league situation: one team has a player serving a penalty, so the other team gets a man advantage and sets up in the offensive zone to create higher‑percentage shots. Malkin’s milestone came from one of those higher‑odds moments, the kind of play veteran scorers are asked to finish. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Beyond the stat line, the night mattered because of what it compresses into a single sheet of paper: a long career of goals and assists, recovery from injury, and repeated returns to relevance. Teammates and coaches noted the mix of skill and craft that still lets Malkin find the crease and distribute under pressure. (nhl.com) The Panthers had won the previous two Stanley Cups, and Pittsburgh’s rout dimmed their playoff hopes; the game carried competitive consequence as well as personal history. Game recaps and league summaries emphasized both the scoreboard and the milestone when describing the evening. (espn.com) (espn.com) (nhl.com) Afterward Malkin let the feeling surface. “I almost cried,” he said, a plain line that made the long ledger of numbers feel human and immediate. (wtop.com) (apnews.com)
