Today in Penguins History (12/17/2011)

Today in 2011 marked milestones for a number of players on the Penguins roster.  In a home game at Consol Energy Center, the Penguins skated to an 3-8 win over the Buffalo Sabres.  But that wasn't the highlight of the evening as a few feats were completed.

1.  Current KHLer, Simon Despres scored his first NHL goal of his career, a power play goal at that, making the game 0-2 Penguins in the first and assisted by Jason Williams and Tyler Kennedy. 

2.  Evgeni Malkin scored his 7th NHL hat trick with his third goal, a power play goal, coming midway through the third period.  Malkin scored his 12th hat trick mid way through the 2018-19 season (he has two others in the playoffs).

3.  With the 3-8 victory over Buffalo, Marc-Andre-Fleury earned his 200th win of his career, with 16 saves on 19 shots.  As of this posting, he has 452 all time regular season wins.

4.  Brooks Orpik picked up his 100th point in the NHL, assisting on Evgeni Malkin's first goal of the game in the first period. Not known for his scoring prowess, Orpik would put 15 more apples on the board that year.

5.  This game marked the 700th NHL game for Pascal Dupuis and with his assist on Deryk Engelland's goal in the second period, he also notched his 300th career point.  He finished his career with 871 games and 409 points, retiring in 2015 due to complications with blood clots. 

6.  Carl Sneep recorded his first point with the assist on Evgeni Malkin's second goal of the game in the first period.  Interestingly enough, this would also be his last point.  Sneep never played another NHL game for the Penguins, or any team for that matter.