Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby recorded his 80th point of the season when he scored a goal 11:11 into the first period of a game against the Buffalo Sabes on Thursday night.
The point ensured he will finish the season with an average of at least one point per game for the 20th straight season.
By reaching 80 points, Crosby secured sole possession of a milestone of having the most seasons with a point-per-game average in NHL history. He previously shared the mark with Wayne Gretzky.
Another chapter in the Sidney Crosby record books ???? https://t.co/bHNeXmcFlCpic.twitter.com/P2fXHYJmGA
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Having missed two games in February due to a suspected left arm injury, Crosby can not play more than 80 games this campaign.
Crosby took a pass from linemate Rickard Rakell from behind the net and beat goalie James Reimer to make the score 2-1 Buffalo.
“It’s special,” Crosby told SportsNet Pittsburgh between periods. “There’s a lot of guys over the years who have contributed to that, obviously all the guys in (the Penguins locker room), a lot of people you think of who have been a big part of it. Thankful for that and nice that I’ve been able to play that long.”
Crosby, Gretzky and Gordie Howe (17) are the only players in NHL history with more than 15 consecutive point-per-game seasons. A group of players including Mario Lemieux, Evgeni Malkin, Ron Francis, Mark Messier, Marcel Dionne and Joe Sakic did it for 15 straight seasons.
Gretzky’s streak broke when he finished with 62 points in 70 games in his final NHL season in 1989-99 with the New York Rangers at age 38.
Crosby will turn 38 in August, but his offensive production has shown few signs of slowing down.
He reached the 90-point mark in each of the last two seasons – posting 94 last year and 93 the season before – and is on pace to flirt with that number again this season.
Remarkably, he came into Thursday night leading the league in five-on-five points with 52, one more than Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and two more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Boston’s David Pastrnak.
“His consistency is just off the chart,” longtime teammate Kris Letang told reporters in Florida on Wednesday. “Every single day he shows up, he works the hardest. He works on different details of his game. To get that record doesn’t really surprise for how much dedication he’s put into his game.”
The two “opponents” that have come the closest to stopping Crosby’s point-per-game streak are former Penguins coach Mike Johnston and covid.
Crosby had 47 points in 41 games in 2019-20 (1.15) and 62 points in 55 games in 2020-21 (1.13), the two seasons impacted by pandemic-related schedule changes.
Crosby had 84 points in 77 games (1.09) in Johnston’s first year behind the bench in 2014-15 and 85 in 80 games (1.06) in his second, which, of course, ended in the hiring of Mike Sullivan and the Penguins’ fourth Stanley Cup.