Penguins star Sidney Crosby’s ‘special’ reaction to becoming Pittsburgh’s all-time points leader

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby achieved a historic feat on Sunday night, surpassing Mario Lemieux as the team’s all-time points leader. In a 4-3 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby recorded a goal and an assist to reach 1,724 points in his 1,387th game, moving past Lemieux’s 1,723 points. Crosby now ranks eighth on the NHL’s all-time points list.

Crosby tied Lemieux early in the first period with his 20th goal of the season, redirecting a slap pass from defenseman Erik Karlsson into the slot at 7:58. Just minutes later, he assisted on Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal at 12:40, with Crosby’s slap shot creating a rebound that Rakell converted. The contributions gave Crosby the franchise record and helped the Penguins end an eight-game losing streak and complete their first shootout victory of the season after starting 0-5 in shootouts.

“It’s really special,” Crosby said following the game. “You’re trying to stay in the game, but also just trying to enjoy the moment, too. It’s hard to balance that sometimes, especially as you get older. You tend to look at things a little bit differently. Seeing the crowd go quiet when Mario’s message came on, that was pretty special. If you don’t understand the impact he’s had here, and you were here tonight, I think you understand a little bit better now, given just how quiet it got. And I think if there was any example of respect, I think it was that there. It was really cool to see that.”

Having held the Penguins record since Jan. 20, 1989, Lemieux sent a message of congratulations, a gesture Crosby found both humbling and memorable. The two have maintained a close relationship for two decades, dating back to Crosby’s drafting in 2005 and his years living with Lemieux’s family in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

All his accomplishments make it clear that Crosby belongs with the hockey greats. In his 21st NHL season, he has amassed 645 goals and 1,079 assists. He is the franchise leader in games played and assists, and second in goals to Lemieux. Remarkably, Crosby has recorded at least a point per game in each of his first 20 seasons, a league record surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s 19 consecutive seasons with a point-per-game pace. He is also the only player in NHL history to score at least 30 goals as both an 18-year-old and an over-35-year-old, and he remains the only active player with more than 200 playoff points.

Beyond his franchise milestone, Crosby now has 505 multi-point games in the regular season, ranking sixth in NHL history behind legends such as Gretzky and Jagr. Combined with playoff totals, Crosby has racked up 1,925 points, 716 goals, and 1,209 assists, placing him seventh all-time, ahead of Lemieux’s 1,895 points. His Sunday goal was his 18th 20-goal season, tied for seventh-most in league history, while he also holds the record for 498 multipoint games with the Penguins, surpassing Lemieux’s 497.

Crosby’s career is decorated with three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017), two Art Ross Trophies, two Hart Trophies, two Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies, three Ted Lindsay Awards, and two Conn Smythe Trophies. In addition, he was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players in 2017 and was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 2022 for his on-ice excellence and contributions to youth initiatives.

The post Penguins star Sidney Crosby’s ‘special’ reaction to becoming Pittsburgh’s all-time points leader appeared first on ClutchPoints.