Evgeni Malkin ties NHL record set by Sergei Fedorov.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has reached an impressive milestone, and it signals the fact that he will soon own his very own piece of National Hockey League history.

On Sunday night, during a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, Malkin recorded the 696th assists of his career in the NHL tying the record for the most assists ever recorded by a Russian born player. That record had, funnily enough, been previously set by a legendary former Red Wing in the form of former Red Wings forward Sergei Fedorov.

Malkin has achieved the record in far fewer games however with the Penguins forward needing just 970 games to achieve the milestone while Fedorov on the other hand needed 1248 games to reach the 696 assists benchmark.

This also means that the next record of Malkin's NHL career will give him sole possession of the record, a milestone that he will no doubt hit in short order this season barring any catastrophic circumstances. 

I suspect that a great many young Russian players idolized the legendary Fedorov while watching him play in the NHL as they grew up in their home country, and I suspect this makes the moment all that much more special for Malkin as well.