Game of Numbers: Pittsburgh Penguins Edition

The Game of Numbers is an exclusive THW series looking at upcoming milestones around the NHL. Each team will be looked at individually in three parts – individual player milestones, franchise player milestones, and players that rank in the top 100 in NHL history in any big statistical category.

A history of raking in some of hockey’s greatest players, names like Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby and Malkin have all worn the Pittsburgh Penguins black and yellow. While they aren’t the only capable players to ever wear the Penguins jersey, there’s no questioning they have and had the capabilities to better the teammates around them.

Mario Lemieux Trophy, NHL, Milestones, Pittsburgh Penguins
Mario Lemieux cemented his place in Pittsburgh Penguins’ history. (Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE)

While they’re looking to set their own career marks, the rest of the current Penguins roster is doing the same as they move closer to personal milestones in goals, assists and wins among other statistical categories.

Pittsburgh Penguins Individual Milestones

Slipping into the playoffs in 2014-15, it’s hard to believe that a roster of this magnitude had trouble down the stretch in an arguably weaker Eastern Conference. Either way, the Penguins found a way to get in on the backs of numerous individual and team efforts. But their players aren’t stopping there. Entering next season, here are some players in search of their next personal statistical mark.

Games Played:

  • 1,000 games played: Craig Adams (951)
  • 900 games played: Pascal Dupuis (853)
  • 700 games played: Paul Martin (697)
  • 600 games played: Marc-Andre Fleury (595), Evgeni Malkin (587), Daniel Winnik (569)
  • 500 games played: David Perron (499), Brandon Sutter (495), Kris Letang (491), Blake Comeau (483)
  • 300 games played: Ben Lovejoy (268)
  • 200 games played: Ian Cole (187)
  • 100 games played: Olli Maatta (98), Beau Bennett (96), Thomas Greiss (89), Taylor Chorney (68)

Goals:

  • 300 goals: Evgeni Malkin (268)
  • 200 goals: Pascal Dupuis (188)
  • 100 goals: Brandon Sutter (98), Blake Comeau (88), Steve Downie (73), Christian Ehrhoff (72), Kris Letang (66), Maxim Lapierre (65), Daniel Winnik (58), Craig Adams (55)

Assists:

  • 600 assists: Sidney Crosby (551)
  • 300 assists: Chris Kunitz (287), Christian Ehrhoff (255)
  • 200 assists: David Perron (167)
  • 100 assists: Rob Scuderi (92), Brandon Sutter (87), Maxim Lapierre (74), Nick Spaling (62), Ben Lovejoy (56)

Points:

  • 900 points: Sidney Crosby (853)
  • 300 points: David Perron (296), Kris Letang (285), Paul Martin (272), Patric Hornqvist (267)
  • 200 points: Blake Comeau (195), Steve Downie (190), Brandon Sutter (185), Daniel Winnik (184), Craig Adams (160)
  • 100 points: Andrew Ebbett (71), Ben Lovejoy (67)

Pittsburgh Penguins Franchise Milestones

Mario Lemieux. Jaromir Jagr. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a club with quite the number of historical players. With players like that, it’s not hard to guess who might hold franchise marks in offensive statistical categories. But with Crosby and others on the ice today, it might not be long before these milestones are handed from one generation to the next.

Games Played:

  • Sidney Crosby (627) needs 77 games played to pass Brooks Orpik (703) for 5th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Evgeni Malkin (587) needs 33 games played to pass Ron Schock (619) for 8th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Kris Letang (491) needs 5 games played to pass Bill Malone and Syl Apps Jr. (495) for 16th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Craig Adams (453) needs 39 games played to pass Kris Letang (491) for 18th on the team’s all-time list.

Goals:

  • Sidney Crosby (302) needs 11 goals to pass Rick Kehoe (312) for 4th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Evgeni Malkin (268) needs 35 goals to pass Sidney Crosby (302) for 5th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Chris Kunitz (143) needs 1 goal to pass Bill Malone (143) for 16th on the team’s all-time list.

Assists:

  • Sidney Crosby (551) needs 90 assists to pass Jaromir Jagr (640) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
  • Evgeni Malkin (434) needs 16 assists to pass Ron Francis (449) for 4th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Kris Letang (219) needs 3 assists to pass Bill Malone (221) for 17th on the team’s all-time list.

Points:

  • Sidney Crosby (853) needs 227 points to pass Jaromir Jagr (1,079) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
  • Evgeni Malkin (702) needs 152 points to pass Sidney Crosby (853) for 3rd on the team’s all-time list.

Powerplay Goals:

  • Evgeni Malkin (97) needs 14 powerplay goals to pass Kevin Stevens and Jaromir Jagr (110) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
  • Sidney Crosby (91) needs 5 powerplay goals to pass Rick Kehoe (95) for 5th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Chris Kunitz (49) needs 4 powerplay goals to pass Dan Quinn (52) for 13th on the team’s all-time list.

Game-Winning Goals:

  • Evgeni Malkin (44) needs 31 game-winning goals to pass Mario Lemieux (74) for 2nd on the team’s all-time list.
  • Sidney Crosby (37) needs 6 game-winning goals to pass Joseph Pronovost (42) for 4th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Chris Kunitz (24) needs 3 game-winning goals to pass Martin Straka and Rick Kehoe (26) for 7th on the team’s all-time list.
  • Pascal Dupuis (21) needs 1 game-winning goal to pass Alex Kovalev and Ron Francis (21) for 12th on the team’s all-time list.
Marc-Andre Fleury, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Hockey
Marc-Andre Fleury, at 30, has already made his mark in a Penguins uniform(Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports)

‘Top 100’ Milestones

At the age of 30, Marc-Andre Fleury has already proven his capabilities as an NHL goaltender. Draft first overall in 2003, the Penguins goalie has reached impressive marks in most goaltending categories. While he’s struggled as of late in the postseason, Fleury’s numbers will cement a place in NHL history.

  • Fleury (595) needs 3 games played to pass Jean-Sebastien Giguere (597) for 45th on the NHL’s all-time goalie list.
  • Fleury (322) needs 2 wins to pass Ryan Miller (323) for 24th on the NHL’s all-time list.
  • Fleury (38) needs 1 shutout to pass Sean Burke and Tom Barrasso (38) for 37th on the NHL’s all-time list.

More from the ‘Game of Numbers’ series:

Eastern Conference: BOS | BUF | CAR | CLB | DET | FLA | MTL | NJD | NYI | NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | TBL | TOR | WSH
Western Conference: ANA | ARZ | CAL | CHI | COL | DAL | EDM | LAK | MIN | NSH | SJS | STL | VAN | WPG

NOTE: The ‘Game of Numbers’ series is subject to updates as the 2014-15 season progresses. Individual marks will only appear if the player is within 50 of the specific statistical milestone, while franchise marks only recognize the top 20 in club history.

For more, follow Andrew on Twitter at @AndrewGForbes or his THW column at @Tape2TapeTHW.