With the Montreal Canadiens down 3-1 late in the third period in Carolina, Andrew Shaw took a pass from Andrei Markov and beat Cam Ward to make it a one-goal game.
It was Markov’s 435th regular-season assist, pulling him into a tie with Yvan Cournoyer for seventh on the organizational leaderboard.
| Rank | Player | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guy Lafleur | 728 |
| 2 | Jean Beliveau | 712 |
| 3 | Henri Richard | 688 |
| 4 | Larry Robinson | 686 |
| 5 | Jacques Lemaire | 469 |
| 6 | Saku Koivu | 450 |
| 7 | Yvan Cournoyer | 435 |
| 7 | Andrei Markov | 435 |
| 9 | Maurice Richard | 421 |
| 10 | Elmer Lach | 408 |
Stats via hockey-reference.com.
A career-long Hab, Markov has already cemented his place as one of the best defencemen to ever play for the team, and is making an argument to be considered one of the greatest players the franchise has ever had.
Next up on the assists list is Saku Koivu, who finished his time with Habs having recorded 450 helpers. It’s possible that he could catch Jacques Lemaire before the end of season for fifth place, currently 34 assists behind.
Thanks to Heather Engel for being the first to mention the milestone being reached.
