Penguins’ Crosby breaks record for most assists on a single team in NHL history

Sidney Crosby continues to rack up NHL records and milestones. 

On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins forward surpassed Ray Bourque for the most assists with a single NHL franchise, with a pair of assists in the first two periods against the Montreal Canadiens. 

The two assists, first on the opening goal to Erik Karlsson, and later on the 2-2 goal to Tommy Novak, brought him to a total of 1,112, passing Bourque’s 1,111. Wayne Gretzky, despite holding the record for the most assists in NHL history with 1,963, posted only 1,086 of those with the Edmonton Oilers, the team he spent the longest with. 

Rounding out the top five on the all-time assists-with-one-team leaderboard are Steve Yzerman, with 1,063 assists for the Detroit Red Wings, and Mario Lemieux, with 1,033 assists with the Penguins. 

Crosby’s first Saturday assist came as the primary to Karlsson’s goal, with Novak providing the secondary assist, bringing him to 100 career NHL assists. Meanwhile, Crosby now has 657 goals and 1,112 assists for 1,769 points in 1,433 regular-season games. In addition, Crosby has netted 72 goals and 134 assists for 206 points in 186 Stanley Cup Playoff games. 

The latest accolade comes in what has already been a history-making season for Crosby. 

Lining up alongside Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, the trio became the longest group of three to play on a single team, hitting 21 consecutive seasons, and amassed the most wins by a trio together, with 494 on Sept. 30. 

While Crosby’s point total has been slow to come by at 39 years old, with three goals and four assists for seven points in 13 games heading into the matchup with the Canadiens, he will be hoping for an uptick in production as the Penguins continue through the fall. 

After Saturday’s clash with the Canadiens, Crosby and the Penguins look ahead to a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.