Within minutes of Malkin becoming the 88th player in NHL history to hit four figures, the Penguins unveiled a list of the 110 players who factored into Malkin's 1000 points. Not surprisingly, Crosby occupied the top spot, factoring into 303 - or 30.3 percent - of Malkin's total. Fittingly, Phil Kessel, whose goal against the Capitals completed the scoring sequence that gave Malkin 1000 points, came in second with 151 points factored into.
Malkin's list was very similar to the one the Penguins unveiled when celebrating Crosby's 1000th-point achievement 25 months earlier. Ironically, 110 players factored into both players' first 1000 points, with 81 names crossing over onto both lists. Malkin was Crosby's top connection, with the Russian star factoring into 262 of Crosby's 1000 points.
At the same time that Penguins' staffers were compiling information in advance of Malkin's milestone, those same communications interns spent countless hours researching the first 1000 points accumulated by Lemieux and Jagr as well. Much like Crosby's and Malkin's, these charts are populated by Stanley Cup champions, current and future Hall of Famers and some of the best supporting stars of their era. Think you remember everyone who factored into Mario Lemieux's first 1000 points? Click here to take an interactive quiz and test your knowledge.
Alternatively, click below on any of the images to see who attributed to each of the player's first 1000 career points.
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Proving that all great players require talented sidekicks to take full advantage of their prodigal skills, the top connection for both Lemieux and Jagr are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Paul Coffey sits atop Lemieux's list, factoring into 186 of his 1000 points; Ron Francis takes the pole position on Jagr's list with 268 points factored into.
Lemieux and Jagr had 27 players cross over onto both of their lists, with one player - Kevin Stevens - turning up in the top-five for both. Of those 27 players on both lists, 15 skated with Lemieux and Jagr on both editions of the Pens' original back-to-back championship teams in 1991 and '92. Five players - Francis, Coffey, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy and Mark Recchi - are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Click below to view which players contributed to all four player's first 1000 points.
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Perhaps the coolest fact that was uncovered while researching this information was discovering that one player, Recchi, found his way onto all four lists. Long before Recchi helped jumpstart the careers of Crosby and Malkin by factoring into both of their first NHL points, he also contributed to Lemieux's and Jagr's pursuit of 1000. Recchi connected with 68 of Crosby's points; 44 of Lemieux's; 18 of Malkin's; and 13 of Jagr's.
Recchi was nearly joined in this unique distinction by defenseman Josef Melichar, who wound up on the list for Crosby, Malkin and Jagr, but not Lemieux. However, Melichar did combine with Sergei Gonchar to set up a Lemieux goal on November 7, 2005, so Melichar can lay claim to his name sitting beside all four on a Penguins' scoresheet. Recchi and Melichar are joined by Richard Park as the only players to skate with each of the four Penguins' all-time greats.
