Sidney Crosby named NHL’s second star of the week

It was a big week for the Pens’ captain to have a big week

Sidney Crosby picked up a weekly award from the NHL today, being named the league’s second star of the week.

From the league:

SECOND STAR - SIDNEY CROSBY, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Crosby recorded 2-5-7, including a pair of game-winning goals, in four outings to lift the Penguins (34-22-10, 78 points) back into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference via a 3-0-1 week. He posted 1-2-3, including his 20th career overtime goal (second in NHL history), as Pittsburgh rallied from a 4-0 deficit for a 5-4 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets March 7. Crosby then picked up one assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders March 9 before scoring his eighth game-winning goal of the season (and eighth of his career vs. PHI) in a 5-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers March 11. He finished the week with two helpers to reach the 50-assist and 80-point milestones for the 10th and 12th times in his career, respectively, in a 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Rangers March 12. The 35-year-old Crosby, who also leads his team in goals, assists and points this season, ranks 12th in the NHL with 29-51-80 through 66 total games in 2022-23.

Crosby’s 80th point means he’s closing in on locking up his 18th straight season of being a point-per-game or more. Wayne Gretzky holds that record with 19 seasons.

That mentioned 12th season of 80+ points for the Pens’ captain leads all active players (Alex Ovechkin has ten seasons of 80+, and needs 18 points in the last 16 games of this year to earn his 11th).

Crosby is now working on his seventh 90+ point season, which, weirdly enough, would tie the younger Connor McDavid for the most 90+ years among active players. Crosby and McDavid are tied with six 100+ point seasons (with McDavid long ago getting to that mark this season), so if Crosby can score 20 more in the last 16 games he will pull back ahead in that category by a 7-6 margin.

One other cool note is that yesterday’s game against the Rangers marked the 231st game in Crosby’s career with multiple assists in the same game. He’s one more multi-assist game away from tying Joe Sakic for 11th place in NHL history in that category.

In the more immediate focus, this week was a huge week for Crosby to lead the way and help the Pens to a 3-0-1 record. At this point in the season, that’s gone a long way to stabilizing the team’s playoff hopes after a rocky February left them seemingly teetering on it going off the rails this year for seeking a 17th straight playoff berth. Those chances look a lot better now than a week ago, in large part to the scoring and leadership shown by No. 87 over the past few games.