Crosby reaches major milestones in playoff push
Sometimes for Sidney Crosby, when it rains it pours.
The Pittsburgh Penguins centre hit two major milestones and lifted his team to a monumental win all at once on Thursday night. The 36-year-old from Cole Harbour's overtime pass to Erik Karlsson on the game-winning goal against the Detroit Red Wings was the 1,000th assist of his career and also moved him into 10th spot on the NHL'S all-time points list.
But much more important to Crosby and the Penguins was the two points, which moved them into playoff position for the first time in weeks. There's less than a week left in the season and Crosby is perhaps pulling off the best leadership moment of his incredible career.
"I never get tired of answering questions about Sid’s milestones and his legacy," Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after the game. "It's probably apropos that it's an overtime goal that he assists on. I think this one is a huge milestone. There aren't too many guys in the game that have a thousand assists.
"That puts him in real elite company and the milestones that he's achieving now are, I think they're self-explanatory. I mean, it puts him in the elite company of the greatest players of all time . ... The thing that I admire the most about him is just how he carries himself with such humility and integrity."
Crosby's 1,591 career points move him past Phil Esposito and puts Joe Sakic (1,641) next in his sights. Fellow Penguins legend Mario Lemieux (1,723) is just ahead of Sakic and Wayne Gretzky (2,857) is the all-time leader.
"That's cool but I couldn't have told you that. I haven't looked that closely at it," Crosby answered when asked in a post-game media session about the other players on the list.
"To be in that company with all those players you mentioned means a
lot. I grew up watching those players that you named and I'm obviously a big fan of the game and the history so I'm honoured to be a part of that."
But even with all of those personal accolades getting the attention they rightly deserve, Crosby is way more focused on the team's current achievement. It wasn't that long ago the Penguins looked down and out in the playoff race but have now resurrected themselves in astonishing fashion.
The Penguins lost 11 of 14 games between Feb. 29 and March 24 to leave them well back in the wildcard race. But they've since won seven of their past nine games to put them one point ahead of the Red Wings, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with three games left on their schedule.
"He's a big part of our game and he's a big reason that we are in the situation we're in," Karlsson told reporters. "We're going to need him playing like this down the stretch here if we're going to have a chance. If it's one thing he's done throughout his career, it's delivering when you need it the most. And today was nothing different than that."
Crosby has 20 points in his past 10 games but it's his will to win and leadership that are making the difference above anything else.
"You can see he's very emotionally invested," Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust said in a media session. "He's out there playing his heart out and I think everybody in here has taken notice of that. And I think we're all just trying to do the same."
The Penguins finish with the Boston Bruins at home on Saturday, the Nashville Predators on Monday at home and the New York Islanders on the road on Wednesday. The Islanders are three points ahead of the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division race.
"Just being in things right now, the way things are going, this is fun," Crosby said. "This is a fun time of year, some big games. I'm obviously happy to be in the top 10 ... but getting a big two points and still being in it here is a lot of fun, too."