Could Penguins’ Sidney Crosby challenge other Mario Lemieux marks?
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For decades, Mario Lemieux’s name stood atop most every significant statistical list in the Pittsburgh Penguins record book.
On Saturday night, Sidney Crosby finally elbowed his way in there.
Crosby played his 916th career game as the Penguins lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, breaking Lemieux’s record of 915.
“I’m happy to be in Pittsburgh,” the 31-year-old Crosby said after the game. “Time certainly goes by pretty fast. I have a lot of great memories here over those games. I’d like to play a lot more. That’s kind of how I look at it.”
There’s a chance Crosby could overtake Lemieux on the franchise’s all-time scoring list some day, but he would have to stay healthy and productive deep into his 30s.
Lemieux has 1,723 career points. Crosby has 1,178.
Crosby has scored at a remarkably consistent pace over the past four years, recording between 84 and 89 points each season. If he keeps up that pace, he could challenge Lemieux by the end of his age 37 season.
Lemieux’s franchise record of 690 goals looks to be practically unbreakable, but Crosby is close to moving up that list as well. He’s third in team history with 434 goals. Jaromir Jagr is second with 439.
Crosby already holds the team’s playoff records for games played (160), assists (119) and points (185). He’s 10 shy of Lemieux’s career postseason goals mark of 76.
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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.