Milestone Males: After Marleau’s 1,700th sport, who’s subsequent to succeed in a significant mark?

Information
After enjoying in his 1,700th NHL sport on Saturday, Patrick Marleau hit a milestone the likes of which few have celebrated of their big-league careers. This is a take a look at a few of the subsequent main milestones gamers will hit this season.Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau|Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty ImagesIt’s sort of unbelievable that Patrick Marleau’s 831-game iron man streak isn’t the very best within the NHL proper now. That distinction goes to Keith Yandle, who hasn’t missed a sport since March 26, 2009 – 841 video games in the past.
However with sport No. 1,700 underneath his belt on Saturday, Marleau – the lively video games performed chief within the NHL, with San Jose Sharks teammate Joe Thornton subsequent behind at 1,612 – Marleau grew to become simply the fifth participant to seem in as many big-league contests. It could have occurred earlier had he signed his NHL contract earlier than the season started, however he as an alternative missed a handful of video games as he waited to discover a match, one he ultimately discovered with the Sharks. So, whereas a couple of video games had been performed with out Marleau’s involvement, his consecutive video games streak technically survived as he didn’t miss any scheduled video games.
Marleau celebrated his milestone in fashion, too, Saturday night time, when the Sharks secured a 2-1 victory over the visiting Dallas Stars and Marleau (who else?) scored the game-wining purpose. With 16 factors in 43 video games this season, Marleau’s offensive output is minimal in comparison with his greatest days, however he’s nonetheless managing greater than 15 minutes per sport at age 40 and is seen as a fantastic chief for a few of the staff’s youngest stars.
Now that Marleau hit 1,700, which different milestones are rapidly approaching across the league this season?
700 targets: Alex OvechkinIt’s solely a matter of time earlier than Ovechkin turns into simply the eighth ahead in NHL historical past to hit 700 targets, and it’s in no way far fetched to assume he’s going to present critical chase to Wayne Gretzky’s document of 894. You possibly can nearly at all times rely on Ovechkin to place residence anyplace from 45 to 55 targets every season, and at a present tempo of 47 targets this 12 months, he might have the 16 targets required to succeed in the milestone by late February or early March. For perspective, Marleau is the following highest lively goal-scorer with 559 targets. The catch? Marleau has performed practically 600 extra video games. At a goals-per-game fee of .60, Ovechkin will go down as the best goal-scorer of his time and top-of-the-line to ever play the sport.
1,100 assists: Joe ThorntonIt’s been a tricky 12 months for Thornton, who has simply two targets and 19 factors by means of 47 video games in what might be his last NHL season. So time is operating out for him to hit a couple of private milestones, with the Sharks ahead needing one other 18 assists to hit 1,100, and he’s simply three factors away from turning into the 14th participant ever to hit 1,500. It’s not shocking that a participant with 10 seasons of no less than 50 assists – together with seasons of 96 and 92 in 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively – is chasing down such a milestone, however age has slowed him and is placing his pursuit of the mark in jeopardy. Nonetheless, Sharks followers would like to see him hit each totals this season.
1,000 factors: Patrick KaneEven when the Chicago Blackhawks are unhealthy, Kane has confirmed to be one of many NHL’s greatest. His present points-per-game mark of 1.049 is sweet for 37th all-time, and with 5 factors to go till he hits 1,000, he’ll handle to succeed in the millennium mark in properly underneath 1,000 video games. Amongst his numerous awards, Kane gained the Artwork Ross trophy in 2015-16 with 106 factors and he topped that with 110 factors in 2018-19. In reality, his lowest level whole in a full NHL season was 64 in 2014-15, however he missed 21 video games as a result of damage. Suffice to say, Kane is likely one of the biggest American gamers ever and at 31, 1,500 factors isn’t out of the query.
900 video games: Henrik LundqvistThe greatest days are behind ‘King Henrik’, however he’s simply 18 video games away from showing in his 900th sport. Marc-Andre Fleury is second with 830 video games performed. As soon as Lundqvist performs in his 900th contest, he’ll change into the eighth goalie in NHL historical past to succeed in the plateau, with Glenn Corridor and his 906 video games performed subsequent on the board. With the arrival of Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers have a three-goalie system that, no less than for now, will forestall Lundqvist from seeing common motion, however he’s nonetheless seen as a superb veteran presence in tandem with Shesterkin. Henrik Lundqvist additionally sits fifth in wins with 458, however Fleury sits only one victory behind. Will Lundqvist change into simply the third goalie to document 500 wins? Fleury is extra doubtless, however Lundqvist isn’t far off from hitting the uncommon milestone himself.
60 shutouts: Marc-Andre Fleury and Pekka RinneSpeaking of Fleury, the Golden Knights netminder is simply two blankings away from hitting 60 profession shutouts, with the potential to change into the 18th goalie to take action. He hasn’t been at his greatest lately – he allowed 4 targets towards in a number of video games in January – however you possibly can usually rely on Fleury to get a handful of shutouts every season. With two in 32 video games, he’s on tempo to document his 60th shutout earlier than the season is thru. Identical goes for Rinne, who has had a rocky 12 months in Nashville however with three donuts in 2019-20, he’s in a four-way tie with Jaroslav Halak, Tristan Jarry and Connor Hellebuyck for the league lead. Rinne wants two extra to succeed in 60 profession shutouts.
Need extra in-depth options, evaluation and an All-Entry cross to the most recent content material? Subscribe to The Hockey Information journal.
Tags: milestones and data, lists, san jose sharks, pittsburgh penguins, nashville predators, washington capitals, chicago blackhawks, the big apple rangers, nhlConnect: Concerning the AuthorSteven EllisSteven Ellis is a Digital Content material Producer for The Hockey Information. He spends his free time listening to music you would not like and watches obnoxiously-long motor races.