Crosby Becomes Ninth Player in NHL History to Reach 1,700 Points

On Monday against the Blues, Sidney Crosby got the puck behind the St. Louis net, and fed it down to Erik Karlsson at the point – who then made a beautiful pass to Bryan Rust in the slot for a re-direct goal.

With the assist, Crosby became the ninth player in NHL history to record 1,700 points. He is the fourth-fastest to reach that milestone, doing so in 1,362 games.

“It's just joining that company. Those are players that I grew up idolizing, and didn't ever think that I'd be with them, or near them,” Crosby said. “So yeah, it's something I'm grateful for, that I’ve been able to play this long and be part of that group.”

Pittsburgh’s previous game on Saturday versus Columbus had been the Hall of Fame Game, where the team inducted the ‘Class of 2025.’ Crosby talked about his respect for Ron Francis, one of the four inductees. And after the cameras stopped rolling for his media availability that morning, the conversation turned to where Francis ranks all-time, which is fifth with 1,798 points.

Later that night, Francis said with a smile, “If he wants to slow down a little bit so he doesn't catch me, that's okay. But he’s been incredible. I mean, you admire not only what he does on the ice, but just how he handles himself. Everything about Sid is first class.”

It’s been an honor and a privilege for the city of Pittsburgh to have Crosby represent the black and gold for the past 21 seasons, with the fans giving him a standing ovation after play resumed, with Crosby waving in acknowledgment.

“The reception has always been great. I've been fortunate since the day I got here, arriving at the airport. From then on, it's been incredible, and I always appreciate that,” Crosby said.

A few minutes later, the Penguins game entertainment crew panned to Crosby while showing the stat on the videoboard. His longtime linemate Rust, sitting next to Crosby, gave him a couple of congratulatory taps as the crowd cheered.

“Seventeen hundred points is incredible. To be a part of I don’t know how many – I’d like to say all of them – but to be part of some of them has been really cool,” Rust said with a smile. To be able to get the goal on his 1,700th (point), I think it’s cool. It’s something I’m going to remember.”

Crosby ended up with three points on the night, after picking up an assist in the first period and scoring a gorgeous goal in the third. It was his 498^th career multi-point game, passing Mario Lemieux – who ranks eighth all-time with 1,723 points – for the most in Penguins history.

While Crosby always brings up how Lemieux played far less games than he did, that doesn’t take away from the significance. For someone like Kevin Stevens, who played with Lemieux and now works for the Penguins as a pro scout, seeing No. 87 move right next to No. 66 is something special.

“He just keeps getting these records, and every night, you see him, he gets another one,” said Stevens, also part of the Penguins Hall of Fame ‘Class of 2025.’

“He’s just one of those guys that we're so lucky we've had. From Mario to Sid and we've had (Jaromir Jagr) and Ronnie. We've had guys here that not a lot of cities get the opportunity to have these guys. I've been lucky to play with them, but I think Pittsburgh, we've been lucky to see them here.”

Stevens then went on to mention the rest of the Big 3, which Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse also brought up. Kris Letang became the 20^th defenseman in NHL history to record 600 assists the other night, while Evgeni Malkin is off to a scorching hot start. He leads the NHL with 13 assists and is tied for first with 16 points.

“Now we got Sid here, and Geno is still playing, and Kris is still playing… and to have those guys play for 20 years here in one city, if you really think about that, that's a pretty amazing thing,” Stevens said.