PITTSBURGH — When it comes to Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux is still number one in his book.
But now, Lemieux is officially number 2.
Crosby broke Lemieux’s team scoring record with a goal and an assist in the first period of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 4–3 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
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“I don’t think you can put a stat line or a number on what he means to this team and to hockey, so yeah, in my mind he’s still number one,” Crosby said.
Crosby, who started the evening one point behind Lemieux, now has 645 goals and 1,079 assists for 1,724 points in 1,387 games. It also moved him past Lemieux for the eighth-most points in NHL history.
Crosby deflected Erik Karlsson’s point shot at 7:58 of the first period to tie the record. He then broke the score with 7:20 left in the period when his shot on a power play hit Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell grabbed the rebound behind Jakub Dobes.
Crosby, Rust and Rakell embraced behind the net after the goal and the Penguins poured onto the bench to congratulate their captain. Later in the period, a 30-second video message recorded by Lemieux congratulating Crosby on the accomplishment was released.
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“I knew when we played together in 2005 that you were going to be a very special player and accomplish a lot of great things in your career,” Lemieux said in the message. “Here we are 20 years later, you are now one of the best to ever play the game.”
Silence settled over the arena as fans listened attentively to Lemieux’s message.
“Seeing the crowd go silent when Mario’s message came through was pretty special,” Crosby said. “If you don’t understand the impact he had here and you were here tonight, I think you understand it a little better given the silence that’s out there.”
Hall of Famer Lemieux, who also owned the franchise after his second retirement, became the Penguins’ all-time leading rusher, surpassing then-assistant coach Rick Kehoe on Jan. 20, 1989, when Crosby was 17 months old. Lemieux, who was in the lineup when Crosby scored his first NHL point, finished his career with 1,723 points in 915 games.
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“I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to play with him and live with him and learn from him,” said Crosby, who lived with Lemieux and his family early in his career. “You grow up watching him, you never expect to make it to the NHL let alone play with him. He helped me a lot and had a huge influence on me.”
Crosby, the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, is the seventh all-time scoring leader in the franchise’s 58-year history and the ninth active player to lead a franchise in scoring. Crosby had already broken Lemieux’s record for the most assists in franchise history on December 29 against the New York Islanders. Crosby is 45 goals behind Lemieux’s franchise record of 690.
Crosby is now third on the NHL’s all-time single-franchise points list, behind only Steve Yzerman (1,755) and Gordie Howe (1,809), both with Detroit.
Crosby also passed Phil Esposito (449) for sole possession of the ninth even-strength goal in NHL history. He also tied Adam Oates for eighth for most first-period assists in NHL history. Crosby, who has 20 goals this season, had his 18th season with 20 goals. Only six players in NHL history have more.
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The most was Lemieux’s franchise record.
“Having the opportunity to play on the same line and score some goals…those are things I’ll always remember,” Crosby said. “The impact he had on me, on this team and on hockey in general is pretty incredible.”
