Sidney Crosby became the ninth player in NHL history to reach 1,700 points by getting a goal and two assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Monday.
The 38-year-old center entered the game with 1,698 points and reached the milestone with an assist on Bryan Rust’s goal 42 seconds into the third period. Crosby got his first point of the night when he set up Parker Wotherspoon’s goal on a delayed penalty at 6:37 of the second period.
After setting the milestone, Crosby sealed the win for the Penguins by scoring on a breakaway to make it 5-3 at 16:39.
In his 21st season, he is the only active player with at least 1,700 points.
Crosby joined Wayne Gretzky (2,857), Jaromir Jagr (1,921), Mark Messier (1,887), Gordie Howe (1,850), Ron Francis (1,798), Marcel Dionne (1,771), Steve Yzerman (1,755) and Mario Lemieux (1,723). Jagr was the last to get there with a goal and an assist in a 5-0 win for the New Jersey Devils against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 10, 2013.
“I think they’re in a whole other category of their own,” Crosby told NHL.com on Oct. 22. “The points for a game doesn’t change the way I think about that. I just have so much appreciation and respect for what they did and just what they accomplished. I don’t look at it the same way.”
Selected No. 1 by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft, Crosby has the most games played (1,362) and assists (1,069) in their history. He trails Lemieux (1,723) by 22 points and has 632 goals, also second to Lemieux (690).
“Coming in, there’s so many new things and the expectations and everything that comes with it as a young player,” Crosby said after a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 21. “So, having someone like Mario and his family there to just keep things as normal as possible, to be there for anything that I needed, any questions I had, just to keep things as normal as they could possibly be given the situation … and just his family as a whole, is so important.
“I don’t know if I can put into words how much it means, but it’s meant a lot, and I really cherish that. That relationship and his family and everything that they’ve done for me.”
The Pittsburgh captain has 1,902 points (703 goals, 1,199 assists) in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs combined, ahead of Lemieux (1,895 points; 766 goals, 1,129 assists) for the most in Penguins history.
“Now there’s nothing more to beat on our team, pretty much,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said after Crosby passed Lemieux with a goal on Oct. 21. “But that’s the type of player that he is. He’s always looking to be better and thrive even more.”
Crosby passed Lemieux (497) for the most multipoint games for the Penguins at 498.
“So many stats, I feel like, I don’t really think about that, but it’s great to be in that company,” Crosby said after that game.
Named to the 100 Greatest NHL Players in January 2017, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup three times. At the age of 21, he became the youngest captain of a championship team when Pittsburgh defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final. He then won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2016 and 2017.
Crosby also won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Art Ross Trophy as the League leader in points in 2007 and 2014, the Maurice