A closer look at Sidney Crosby's 19-year point-per-game scoring streak

With two goals and an assist in a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby reached the 82-point mark and clinched the 19th point-per-game season of his NHL career. That ties him with Wayne Gretzky for the most such seasons in league history.

Here are some notes and numbers related to Crosby’s record-tying accomplishment:

Good company

Crosby and Gretzky are two of eight NHL players to record at least 15 point-per-game seasons in their career. Gordie Howe, who played 26 seasons in the NHL, has the third-most with 17. Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Marcel Dionne, Mark Messier and Joe Sakic each had 15 point-per-game seasons.

Closest call

Crosby has cleared the point-per-game mark in all 19 of his NHL seasons, and there really hasn’t been a terribly close call. His worst point-per-game total was 1.06 in 2015-16 when he recorded 36 goals and 85 points in 80 games. It’s tough to call it a down year, though. His goal total was the fourth-best of his career and the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Disruptions

While Crosby and Gretzky are tied with 19 point-per-game seasons, Gretzky had 17 80-point seasons compared to “only” 13 for Crosby. That stat shows how frequently Crosby has had seasons disrupted during his career – not only due to injuries, like many players deal with, but also due to other factors. The NHL season was shortened to 48 games by a lockout in 2012-13 and to 69 games in 2019-20 and 56 games in 2020-21 due to the covid pandemic.

Lucky 13

Crosby’s 13 80-point seasons are tied for second-most in NHL history with Messier, Dionne and Dale Hawerchuk.

A league of his own

Gretzky had a 20th point-per-game season as a pro, but it wasn’t in the NHL. As a rookie in 1978-79, he recorded 110 points in 80 games in a season split between Indianapolis and Edmonton in the WHA.

Uphill climb

If history is any guide, it will only get harder from here for Crosby, 36, to keep up his point-per-game streak. Gretzky had only one NHL season where he didn’t average a point per game – his last one. He had 62 points in 70 games with the Rangers at age 38 in 1989-99. Lemieux experienced something similar. He averaged at least a point per game for his first 15 seasons before posting nine points in 10 games in 2003-04 and 22 points in 26 games in 2005-06 as his career wound down. He retired at age 40.

Speaking

“I’m not going to think about it too much. We’ve got a game tomorrow. But I think when you think about all the different years, the different challenges, think about all the guys that I played with and what a big part of it that they are, it’s cool. It’s not something you think about a whole lot, but when it comes up, you want to get it and it’s fun to share it.” – Crosby on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show

Up next

With eight games left in the regular season, Crosby has a good shot at reaching two more milestones this season. With three more, he can become the 14th player in NHL history to record 1,000 assists. With six more points, Crosby (1,584 points) can tie Phil Esposito (1,590) and move into the top 10 of the NHL’s all-time scoring list.

The big number

As Crosby’s career winds down, the big number might be 1,723 – Lemieux’s all-time Penguins scoring record. Crosby is 139 points away.