Crosby ties Gretzky’s record
Pens captain matches Great One with 19th point-per-game season
Sidney Crosby’s three-point night on Monday has put him in rarefied air with Wayne Gretzky. The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar captain from Cole Harbour collected two goals and an assist to lead his team to a 5-2 road victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The 36-year-old Crosby now has 37 goals and 82 points in 74 games, securing a point-per-game pace for the 19th straight season since entering the National Hockey League. He’s tied with Gretzky for the most pointper-game seasons in NHL history.
Crosby stumbled when he was asked following the game if he planned to respond to Gretzky or his parents first about the milestone.
“Uh, I don’t know. That’s putting a lot of pressure on me there,” a laughing Crosby said during a post-game interview. “Whoever texts first, maybe?
“It’s (the record) obviously something I didn’t want to talk about,” he continued. “I knew it was getting closer. Any time you can be in that company, it’s pretty cool.”
Crosby’s first-period assist was the 997th of his career and his 80th point this season, marking the 13th time he has reached that milestone, tying him with Marcel Dionne, Mark Messier and Dale Hawerchuk. Gretzky has the most such seasons with 17.
He finished his seventh three-point game of the season by scoring into an emptynet with 45 seconds left. That point assured Crosby at least a point-per-game average for the 2023-24 campaign.
“With the extra man, we were just trying to protect the middle (of the ice),” Crosby said of his 82nd point of the season. “(Rangers winger Artemi) Panarin tried to get a shot through and I was able to get a block. They had been on for a while, six-on-five. I had some room to take it down and put it in.”
Bryan Rust scored two goals for Pittsburgh (3330-11) and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves in his fifth straight start.
Nedeljkovic, in his first season with the Penguins, has been impressed with Crosby as a teammate.
“It's incredible to watch,” Nedeljkovic said post-game. “He’s so much more than a goal scorer. Doing the little things is what makes him a leader.”
The Penguins improved to 3-0-2 in their past five games but remain a longshot to reach the playoffs. They sit five points back of the Washington Capitals for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They visited the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night and will host the Capitals on Thursday. Their regular season schedule concludes on April 17.
“We know the circumstances,” Crosby said of his team’s post-season chances. “No one is going to feel sorry for us.
“We got to find ways in times like these to get wins. It was a great team win (Monday night) and hopefully it’s something we can build off.”