Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby reached 1,000 points on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, becoming the 86th player in NHL history to do so.
Crosby came into the game needing one point to reach the total and he got it on an assist to Chris Kunitz at the 6:28 mark.
The 29-year-old Crosby accomplished the feat in 757 games – the 12th fastest to reach 1,000 points. He likely would have hit the number sooner if not for concussions that limited him to 63 combined games between in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Also, the lockout for the 2012-13 season cut into Crosby’s season.
Crosby ranked fifth in NHL history in points per-game at 1.321 heading into Thursday’s contest. No other player who made his NHL debut after the 2004-05 lockout is in the league’s top-10 in career points per-game.
“I’m real proud of him for being where’s at,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, one of Crosby’s best friends in hockey and a longtime teammate, said recently. “He’s had to battle through a lot of stuff in his career. He still did it very fast. I see him every day, so I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m just happy for him. He deserves it.”
Crosby came into Thursday tied for second in the NHL with 61 points. He also ranked first with 30 goals. Crosby picked up his 999th point Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks.
“It’s not something you think about a whole lot but when you are around the number, you realize how many guys have done it,” Crosby said recently. “I don’t love talking about it but hopefully I’ll just get it and keep going.”
Reaching 1,000 points continues a banner stretch for Crosby where he has re-established himself as the NHL’s top player with a Stanley Cup and World Cup of Hockey win in the last year.
“Right now, Sidney deserves to be known as the best player in the game,” NHL all-time leading scorer Wayne Gretzky told ESPN two months ago. “He’s been the best player consistently in his career. He’s won Stanley Cups and he’s won gold medals. Until somebody takes that mantle away from him, he’s still going to hold the crown.”
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