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Sidney Crosby eyes another NHL legend after surpassing Mario Lemieux
Photo credit: Edit from Daily Faceoff
Fresh off surpassing Mario Lemieux for the Penguins' all-time points lead, Sidney Crosby now has his sights set on moving up the NHL's franchise ranking.
As far as Sidney Crosby is concerned, Mario Lemieux is still No. 1. But Sunday night, Lemieux officially became No. 2. Crosby broke Lemieux's Penguins scoring record with a goal and an assist in the first period of Pittsburgh's 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens.
What Sidney Crosby did vs. the Montreal Canadiens
Entering the night one point behind Lemieux, Crosby now has 645 goals and 1,079 assists for 1,724 points in 1,387 regular-season games, moving past Lemieux for the eighth-most points in NHL history.
The arena went quiet as Lemieux's message played for the crowd. Lemieux, the Hall of Famer who once owned the franchise, became Pittsburgh's all-time points leader on Jan. 20, 1989, surpassing Rick Kehoe; Crosby was just 17 months old.
Lemieux finished his career with 1,723 points in 915 games, and he was in the lineup when Crosby recorded his first NHL point.
The next NHL legend that Sidney Crosby is chasing
Crosby now ranks third in NHL history for points with a single franchise, behind Steve Yzerman (1,755) and Gordie Howe (1,809). He aims to pass Yzerman this season, while catching Howe will likely have to wait.
Crosby also passed Phil Esposito (449) for ninth-most even-strength goals in NHL history and tied Adam Oates for eighth-most career assists, all in the first period.
His 20th goal of the season gave him his 18th 20-goal campaign, one of only six players in NHL history with more.
Sunday's milestone was ultimately about Lemieux's franchise scoring record, now officially in Crosby's hands. He will attempt to continue adding to his totals when the Penguins take on the Maple Leafs today at 4 PM ET.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 23 | 82 ANSWERS Sidney Crosby eyes another NHL legend after surpassing Mario Lemieux Will Sidney Crosby surpass Steve Yzerman's all-time points this season? | ||
| Yes | 74 | 90.2 % |
| No | 8 | 9.8 % |
| List of polls | ||