Lars Eller of the Pittsburgh Penguins has had a notable career that has lasted 15 years and seen him play for five NHL teams. He lined up at center Saturday night in Pittsburgh's home game against the Montreal Canadiens for the 1,000th game of his career.

Eller is the first player born in Denmark to reach the 1,000-game mark, and many of his current and former teammates congratulated him for reaching the milestone in a video that was shown before the start of the Penguins game.

Among those who offered congratulations included T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals, Brendan Gallagher of the Canadiens and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. “It was always tough competing against you for so many years,” said Crosby. “I'm glad you are with us now and you are a great teammate.”

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Eller has played with the St. Louis Blues, the Canadiens, the Washington Capitals, the Colorado Avalanche and the Penguins.

He has been a solid two-way player throughout his career who has been known as much for his defense and his checking as he has been for his offense. Eller had his most memorable season in 2017-18 for the Capitals when he scored 18 goals and 20 assists in the regular season. However, that was just the prelude for an exceptional performance in the playoffs.

The Capitals won their only Stanley Cup in team history that season, and Lars Eller scored 7 goals and 11 assists in Washington's 24-game run. He scored the most important goal in team history as he netted the winning goal in the Stanley Cup-clinching game against the Vegas Golden Knights.