Crosby knows difficulty of what Kane can accomplish

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby would not be surprised if Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane matches his 25-game point streak from 2010 against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; TSN3, CSN-CH).

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain scored 50 points during his streak five years ago, which included seven games of at least three points. Kane has scored 38 points during his 24-game streak, which has helped him to the top of the NHL scoring race with 44 points, five ahead of Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn.

When comparing Kane's streak to his, Crosby said he realizes how difficult it is to string that many consistent performances together.

"It's impressive no matter what the game's like, to be honest with you," Crosby said. "The consistency you need to have to be able to do that, it's really tough. You need some bounces along the way, but to be that consistent game after game, it's not easy. Everybody knows when they're playing against them, that's the guy they want to shut down. So for him to be able to continue to produce, yeah, that's really impressive."

The Nashville Predators were close to ending Kane's streak Tuesday, but he managed to score an empty-net goal with 1:36 remaining in a 4-1 Blackhawks victory. Kane scored 5:43 into the third period of a 5-1 loss to the Predators on Thursday.

Crosby's streak was nearly broken at 23 games, with the Penguins trailing the Ottawa Senators 3-0 late in the third period on Dec. 26, 2010. He kept it intact when he scored Pittsburgh's lone goal with 3:22 remaining.

Winning is always the primary objective, Crosby said. His goal didn't make the loss to Ottawa any easier, but he also said any player who has put the effort into building a lengthy streak never wants to see it end.

"I think it's in the back of your mind. I think that once it gets up there, I think everyone's aware of it," Crosby said. "So you're trying to find a way to keep that streak going, but when you're playing that well, I think you're just confident in your game. You know that the points are going to come when they're coming like that. That's just how it works."