Steven Stamkos has hammered home dozens of goals from the left face-off circle during his 18-year NHL career.
But he’ll never forget the one he scored in the first period of Wednesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Stamkos crushed a cross-ice pass from Filip Forsberg on the power play, becoming the 22nd player in NHL history to score 600 career goals.
The 35-year-old Stamkos was mobbed by teammates on the ice as he celebrated a score that tied the contest 2-2.
The goal left Stamkos just one score behind former Edmonton star Jari Kurri (601 goals) in 21st place on the career goals list.
Stamkos joins Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (912) and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (646) as the only active players to reach the 600-goal mark.
The Ontario, Canada, native had moved to the brink of 600 on Monday, when he scored goals No. 598 and No. 599 in the Preds’ come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Utah. Stamkos’ first score in that game tied the contest in the third period, and his second — coming with just 6:43 left — served as the game-winner.
Stamkos’ history-making goal against Vegas gave him 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his last 10 games.
He leads Nashville with 17 goals, one ahead of Forsberg.