Chris Kunitz Eyes 200-Goal Mark Following Canada's Gold-Medal Win at Sochi

Chris Kunitz, who notched an unassisted goal in Canada's 3-0 win over Sweden in the gold-medal hockey game of the Sochi Olympics on Sunday, will enter Thursday's NHL contest against the Montreal Canadiens  just one tally shy of the 200-goal mark of his NHL career, which has spanned 639 games to date.

With 24 games left on the Pittsburgh Penguins' regular-season slate, Kunitz, who made his NHL debut with the Anaheim Ducks back in the 2003-04 season, has already notched a career-high 27 goals.

The 34-year-old winger is also six points away from matching his existing season-high of 61 points, a mark he set in 82 games during the 2011-12 campaign.

Kunitz has recorded 13 multiple-point games this season, and despite his highly respectable production for Pittsburgh, his selection to Team Canada was questioned by some observers.

It's hard to argue with the ultimate outcome, though, which was a 6-0 record for Canada over the course of the Olympic tournament en route to a gold medal. The team was captained by Sidney Crosby, Kunitz's teammate and linemate, both with the Penguins and, for the most part, during the Sochi Games.

While Kunitz, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, hasn't been an elite NHL sniper over his pro career, he remains a key cog in the Pittsburgh offense, scoring at just above a point-per-game clip over the past two seasons, with 107 points in 106 games.