Pittsburgh Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby finally hit the 1,500-point milestone with a goal in Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Crosby made the leap early in the third period on the power play. After sending the puck to Kris Letang along the blue line to move the puck and fend off the penalty killers, Letang sent him a return pass, which he quickly fired to give the Penguins a 4-1 lead. .
Although it was the scoring point, it was not the only one in his game to take it to 1,500. He also had an extra goal and an assist for three points on the night in what was a crucial victory 5-1 for the Penguins with their playoff lives on the line.
Crosby becomes the 15th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 points, joining Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Ron Francis, Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, Joe Thornton, Mark Recchi and Paul Coffey. He is currently the only active NHL player on the roster, although Jagr still plays hockey in the Czech league, while Thornton is not officially retired.
Crosby also becomes the second player to reach the milestone solely with the Penguins with Lemieux, though Jagr, Francis, Recchi and Coffey all contributed to their totals as a Penguin. Crosby is 223 points behind Lemieux for the Penguins’ all-time record, which remains realistic for the 35-year-old barring injury concerns.
Crosby had another fantastic year even as he got older, as he had 33 goals, 54 assists and 91 points in 80 games by the time he reached the milestone. While that only puts him 14th in scoring this season, he’s tied for sixth in even-strength points this season.
