| [MATT SLOCUM | Associated Press] |
| Steven Stamkos' milestone season continues |
| Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 1,000th career point on Thursday night in Philadelphia by playing it safe. Stamkos had already seen a couple scoring opportunities just miss. When he took the puck off the corner wall and looked up just under eight minutes into the second period, he was tempted to be fancy — as all creative playmakers are — and try to fling the puck toward the back post. He admitted later, he was worried he'd turn the puck over and get yelled at, at the team's next film breakdown meeting. Instead, he passed behind the goal to defenseman Ian Cole, who was jumping in the play and centered the puck to Nick Paul in front for a 2-0 lead and a storming of the ice off the bench to celebrate Stamkos' latest career achievement. Stamkos embraced his teammates and the moment on a special night. After the game, he clutched his 1,000th-point puck in his right hand and called it a team achievement. He said he wouldn't have been able to reach this mark without teammates like Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier early on; Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman after them; and even his current linemates Paul and Alex Killorn, who have suddenly turned into one of the league's most dangerous lines. "It's one of those things where you're just thankful to get this opportunity to be in the league for that long to do it with one organization as well," said Stamkos, who became the 95th player in NHL history, and one of only 10 active players, to reach 1,000 points. "That's special for me. That's something that I was really looking forward to this year, understanding that there were some possible milestones. So, to be able to achieve them with this group of guys is pretty cool." Another milestone looms ahead. Stamkos is six goals shy of reaching 500 career goals, which should all but cement his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. There's only one eligible player with 500 goals, 1,000 points and at least one Stanley Cup not in the Hall of Fame. Stamkos has two Cups in a salary cap era dictated by parity, which should be enough for election. That is more of a conversation for a later day, but Thursday's game was definitely special in its own way. And Stamkos, who needed just 946 games to reach 1,000, has plenty of mileage left to continue to pad his resume. "That kid's got some more milestones to come this year," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, "and he's deserved it." |
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