PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby is too consumed with the moment to think about the history he’s making. Too focused on trying to will the Pittsburgh Penguins into a playoff berth that seemed unlikely a month ago to consider the weight of all that he’s done.
Besides, there’s really no need. The heights Crosby is reaching now are the kind reserved not just for the greatest of their time, but the greatest of all time.
The latest proof came Thursday against Detroit, when the longtime Penguins captain became the 14th NHL player to reach 1,000 career assists and the league’s 10th all-time leading scorer with one trademark backhand flick.
Crosby’s deft feed to the slot ended up on the stick of teammate Erik Karlsson. The defenseman did the rest, blasting a shot by Alex Lyon 1:40 into overtime to give the Penguins a 6-5 win that leapfrogged them over Washington and into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
“He plays his best when the stakes are high like all of the all-time greats that have played the game,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s one of those guys.”
Crosby became the seventh player to record 1,000 assists with one franchise, joining Ray Bourque (1,111 with Boston), Wayne Gretzky (1,086 with Edmonton), Steve Yzerman (1,063 with Detroit), Mario Lemieux (1,033 with Pittsburgh), Gordie Howe (1,023 with Detroit) and Joe Sakic (1,016 with Colorado/Quebec).
He also required the seventh-fewest games to hit the milestone, at 1,269 games.
Crosby finished with a goal and two assists Thursday to boost his career total to 1,591, one more than Hall of Famer Phil Esposito. Sakic is next in ninth at 1,641, with Lemieux in eighth at 1,723 and Crosby’s childhood idol, Yzerman, in seventh at 1,755.
Considering the way Crosby is playing at 36, if he stays healthy, it’s a matter of when he passes them, not when.
“I haven’t looked that closely at it,” Crosby said. “But to be in that company with all those players you mentioned, that means a lot. I grew up watching those players.”
Kind of like the way Crosby’s teammates sometimes find themselves watching his No. 87 and shaking their heads at what they’re seeing. Crosby collected assist No. 999 in the first period on Drew O’Connor‘s goal and tied Esposito on the scoring list with a brilliant redirect at the left post.
He collected a rebound off a Rickard Rakell shot in the extra period and threw the puck to an open sheet of ice, giving Karlsson enough room to blast in…
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