Sidney Crosby becomes Penguins' franchise leader in points
Sidney Crosby now sits alone atop the Penguins' franchise record books as the all-time leader in points.
Against his childhood team, the Montreal Canadiens, on Sunday, Crosby recorded a goal followed by a secondary power-play assist to reach 1,724 career points, surpassing Mario Lemieux's mark of 1,723.
From the 1984-85 season until the 2005-06 season, Crosby's rookie season, Lemieux scored 690 goals and 1,033 assists in 915 career games.
Lemieux and Crosby share a long history
No player in NHL history may have had a more famous first career goal than Lemieux.
On Oct. 11, 1984, in his first game in the NHL, Lemieux scored on his very first shot. Bearing down on Boston Bruins' goaltender Pete Peeters, Lemieux would steal the puck from Ray Bourque, streak down the left side of the ice, deke once, and slide the puck into an open net, giving him the first of his 690 goals.
For Crosby, the first goal would have to wait until his third NHL game. Nearly 31 years to the day, on Oct. 8, 2005, playing the Bruins, and his future head coach, Mike Sullivan, at Mellon Arena, Crosby would net his first.
With the Penguins ahead 4-3, on a power play, Crosby gave the Penguins an insurance marker, scoring on a rebound.
History may not repeat itself, but it oftentimes rhymes.
Lemieux and Crosby go on point streaks
In the history of the NHL, the longest point streak in league history belongs to Wayne Gretzky, who would record a 51-game point streak during the 1983-84 season. During that time, he scored 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points.
Right behind him, however, is Lemieux. In the 1989-90 season, Lemieux went on a 46-game point streak, scoring 39 goals and 64 assists for 103 points.
Given that Crosby is playing in a much different era, with faster skaters and larger goaltenders, his point streaks may not be as long or for as many points, but they are impressive, nonetheless.
Before being sidelined with a concussion for nearly two years in the 2010-11 season, Crosby racked up 26 goals and 24 assists for 50 points in just 25 games — good for a pace of two points per game.
The only active NHL player with a longer point streak than Crosby's since the 2004 lockout is then-Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, who went on a 26-game point streak in the 2015-16 season, but only recorded 40 points.
What's the next milestone for Sidney Crosby?
Lemieux holds the franchise record for goals with 690. After scoring a goal on Sunday, Crosby has 20 goals so far this season. Crosby currently has 645 career goals, putting him 45 goals away from Lemieux's franchise record.
Now, with Crosby scoring 1,724 points and counting, he sits eighth all-time in NHL scoring, just 32 points away from overtaking Steve Yzerman for seventh-most all-time and 47 from passing Marcel Dionne for sixth-most all-time.