PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- For the 18th straight season, Sidney Crosby has averaged more than a point-per-game when it comes to scoring.

Crosby ensured the point-per-game pace when he scored his 82nd point of the season in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday night. 

Only Wayne Gretzky has registered more point-per-game seasons (19), whose record Crosby could tie with another point-per-game season next year.

Crosby currently sits just nine points shy of the 1,500 career point mark.