Without a doubt, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was the No. 1 star during Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Crosby’s two points in the first period propelled him beyond Mario Lemieux into first place atop the franchise’s career scoring list with 1,724 points.
As for the second star, in my opinion, it should’ve been Penguins TV play-by-play voice Josh Getzoff for authoring a perfect call of No. 87’s record-breaking assist on a power-play goal by Rickard Rakell.
“The kid is now the king!”
POINT 1,724 ???? pic.twitter.com/KCkRszWiDg
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 22, 2025
Perfect. What an eloquent way to punctuate how “Sid The Kid” vaulted to the top of the team’s all-time scoring ranks.
Although, based on his postgame comments, Crosby was reluctant to accept such praise. He didn’t sound like a person who wanted to claim Lemieux’s castle.
“He’s still No. 1 in my book. I don’t think you can put a stat line or a number on what he means to this team and to hockey,” Crosby said about Lemieux after the game. “In my mind, he’s still No. 1.”
Frankly, both Getzoff and Crosby are right.
Crosby is the king. The numbers don’t lie. Not just the points. Crosby (645) will likely catch Lemieux (690) in goals soon enough as well. He’s got three Stanley Cup rings to Lemieux’s two. Two Olympic golds to Lemieux’s one. They both have two Conn Smythe trophies.
But has Crosby knocked Lemieux from his pedestal as the icon of the franchise? As the ultimate patriarch Penguin?
Nah. Using Crosby’s own parlance, Lemieux is “still No. 1.”
Whatever that means. Whatever the quantifiable definition of that incalculable intangible is, Mario is still No. 1 and probably will be forever.
To be fair to Crosby, the question isn’t, “Is Sid greater than Lemieux in Penguins history?”
The more appropriate question might be, “Is there anything Crosby — or anyone else — could ever do to pass Lemieux?”
Jaromir Jagr flirted with that. Crosby is coming as close as any mortal could.
But, again, nah. As Sid said, “He’s still No. 1.”
It’s an unbalanced comp. As he arrived as a player, Mario saved the team when it was nothing. Then he did so again as an owner.
Crosby certainly helped that second chapter. But it’s impossible to separate one from the other. There’s no Pittsburgh hockey renaissance in the early 2000s without Crosby. But Crosby’s career isn’t in Pittsburgh without Lemieux.
So there’s that.
Plus, the other thing to consider is that only the youngest generation of Penguins fans don’t remember Lemieux as a player and have only grown up in the Crosby era. If you’re in the 25-30 range or older, you probably remember at least a little bit of Lemieux’s playing career.
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He was your guy too, just like Crosby is.
Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger weren’t on the same roster. Roberto Clemente and Barry Bonds never shared an outfield together. Derek Jeter was never on base when Babe Ruth homered. And Larry Bird never made an extra pass to Bill Russell on a fast break.
Sid and Mario were teammates for a little while. They worked power plays together.
Most folks who love Crosby still worship Lemieux. It’s hard to let that go.
It sure sounds like Crosby himself is one of those people.
“I just have so much appreciation for having the opportunity to play with him,” Crosby said. “You grow up watching Mario, you never expect you’re going to make the NHL, let alone play with him. I had the opportunity to play with him, live with him, learn from him, and just the impact that he’s had here on this team, on and off the ice, and the impact he’s had on hockey in general, it’s pretty amazing.”
By passing Mario, perhaps Crosby’s greatest accomplishment is how he’s framing Lemieux’s legend.
Think about it. When Sidney Crosby was drafted, the consensus opinion about the guy was, “He’s gonna be great! Maybe not Mario great, but great n’at!”
Fast forward two decades: Crosby has more rings, more points, more gold medals and will eventually have more goals than Lemieux.
Despite all of that data, a lot of us — including Sid himself — feel like it’s blasphemous to even consider that Crosby may be better.
If ever there was a crystallization of what Lemieux has done to shape hockey perspective in this city, it’s that.
So, yes, “The Kid” is now the king. But Le Magnifique will never abdicate the throne.