from Matt Larkin of The Hockey News,

It was positively poetic to see Evgeni Malkin record career point No. 1,000 on the same night – in the same game – Alex Ovechkin notched No. 1,200 and earned an embrace from Sidney Crosby for it. No matter what Malkin seems to accomplish, it happens under the gargantuan shadow cast by two generational talents.

Malkin must understand what it felt like to be Dale Hawerchuk, who piled up 100-point seasons in the 1980s while Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux ruled the universe. Hawerchuk ripped off 752 points across 559 games in his first seven seasons – and walked away with one second-team all-star nod, while his Calder Trophy was an award Lemieux and Gretzky were obviously not eligible to win in 1981-82.

And yet, comparing Malkin to the Hall of Famer Hawerchuk doesn’t even do Malkin justice. He’s not just an elite player dwarfed by two legends. Malkin is one of the greatest players in NHL history. We spend oodles of ink describing the accomplishments of Crosby and Ovechkin, and they deserve all the praise they get, but let’s shed some light on career Pittsburgh Penguin ‘Geno’ today in honor of his 1,000th point.

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