There were plenty of milestones to go around in the NHL on Sunday evening.
One of which was Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby making franchise history by passing Hall of Fame legend Mario Lemieux as the all-time assists leader.
Crosby notched his 1,034th career assist on a power-play goal scored by Michael Bunting in the second period of the Penguins’ 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
This assist also propelled Crosby into the company of other greats. Ray Bourque, Wayne Gretzky, and Steve Yzerman are the only three players with more assists for a single team.
“He’s done it so many times,” Bunting said. “He has eyes on the back of his head, and I think he knew I was there.”
Crosby slid a quick backhand pass from behind the net that Bunting cashed in with a one-time shot. Of course, the backhand shot is a signature of Crosby’s so it was only fitting he would reach this achievement by executing it on a pass.
“He’s one of the best players ever to play on his backhand. He makes so many plays on his backhand, he’s just so creative,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “The accomplishment, the milestone that he’s reached, it’s just more evidence of an amazing career. He’s just an elite player. I’m running out of adjectives for him, he’s terrific.”
Crosby earned a standing ovation and waved to the crowd after reaching the milestone, solidifying his spot at 12th on the all-time assists list. He is now just six assists shy of catching Marcel Dionne for 11th place and 15 away from matching Gordie Howe for 10th.
“They’re not always like that, but as the years go on, I think you appreciate those kind of things a little bit more,” said Crosby, who is now up to 40 points — 10 goals, 30 assists — through 38 games this season. “That’s not why you play by any means, but to get it on a nice one and to go up in the game like that, at home, it’s definitely nice.”
Lemieux, who played 17 seasons for the Penguins between 1984 and 2005, assumed ownership of the franchise in 1999. He played alongside Crosby in the final…
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