Sidney Crosby becomes Penguins' all-time assist leader in win against Islanders

Sidney Crosby knows better than to compare himself to Mario Lemieux.

After all, he was a fan of Lemieux well before he became Lemieux’s teammate nearly two decades ago.

But, today, he is Lemieux’s superior.

At least in one area.

Assists.

On Sunday, in a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby recorded his 1,034th assist and broke a tie with Lemieux as the franchise’s leader in that category.

Crosby set the new mark in his 1,310th game while Lemieux’s dazzling career was limited to 915 contests.

“Honestly, I don’t think about it a whole lot,” Crosby said following the game. “I appreciate those moments probably more and more. But as far as looking at the lists and thinking about that, it’s not something I think about a whole lot.

“I have a lot of appreciation for what the guys have done on that list, especially Mario, what he means to the city and the organization.”

Sunday’s victory meant a good bit for the Penguins in the immediate sense as it snapped a four-game losing streak against the Islanders (0-2-2) and it improved the team’s dismal record against Metropolitan Division rivals to 3-7-1.

With the triumph, the Penguins improved their overall mark to 17-16-5 and now have 39 points. Those figures allow them to sit in the second wild card seed in the Eastern Conference with approximately three and a half months remaining in the season.

“It’s important, I think, in the way that we’ve played over the last month or so, giving ourselves an opportunity to be back in the mix here,” Crosby said. “We’re competing with a lot of teams, and we know we’ve got our work cut out for us. But this is, hopefully, a position that we’re in for the rest of the year here, competing for.”

The Penguins competed Sunday without the services of All-Star defenseman Kris Letang, who was scratched due to an undisclosed injury he suffered during a 6-3 road loss to the Islanders on Saturday.

Coach Mike Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on his status following the game.

In his absence, defenseman Nate Clurman made his NHL debut. The 26-year-old got his first taste of NHL action roughly 8 1/2 years after he was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2016.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Clurman, who does not qualify as a rookie per the NHL’s rules. “It’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work, and I think about all the people that helped me get to this point. Just feel super blessed and honored to be in this situation.”

Former Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier put the Penguins in a good situation by opening the scoring 3:54 into regulation with his ninth goal of the season.

Off a cross-ice stretch pass from Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, Bunting gained the offensive zone on the right wing. Advancing below the near circle, Bunting slid a clever pass across the front of the crease for Beauvillier, who one-touched a forehand shot by goaltender Marcus Hogberg’s blocker on the near side. Bunting and Grzelcyk had assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Anthony Beauvillier with 16:06 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Michael Bunting and Matt Grzelcyk.

Pittsburgh: 1
New York: 0#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/uXtxA1ft4F

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 29, 2024

Crosby’s milestone came 1:36 into the second period, when forward Michael Bunting scored his 11th goal during a power-play sequence.

Settling a loose puck at the top of New York’s right circle, Penguins forward Philip Tomasino offloaded a pass to the right corner for Crosby. Slinking his way to the end boards, Crosby snapped a backhanded pass to the lower rim of the right circle, where Bunting darted and lasered a wrister under Hogberg’s right leg. Crosby and Tomasino tallied assists.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Michael Bunting with 18:24 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Sidney Crosby and Philip Tomasino.

Pittsburgh: 2
New York: 0#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/26FY8yjlgM

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 29, 2024

“That’s a lot of assists,” Bunting quipped. “He’s a remarkable player that’s been doing it for a very long time.”

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin got in on the act with his eighth goal during a power-play sequence at 6:57 of the third period.

From New York’s right circle, Penguins forward Cody Glass dished a pass to the opposite circle. Settling the puck, Tomasino considered his options for a moment then attempted to feed a pass back to Glass but the puck embarked on something of a wild adventure. With Malkin positioned in the slot, the puck glanced off of his right knee then caromed off of Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov’s right thigh — he was stationed at the lower right hashmark — before going into the net past Hogberg’s glove. Tomasino and Glass generated assists.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Philip Tomasino with 13:03 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Cody Glass and Drew O'Connor.

Pittsburgh: 3
New York: 0#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/m3TU9MtT0h

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 30, 2024

The Penguins’ aspirations of recording their first shutout this season were spoiled when Islanders forward Anders Lee scored his 16th goal at 12:59 of the third frame after Hogberg was pulled for an extra attacker.

Off a wrister by Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson, a wrister skidded to the center point of the Penguins’ zone where Romanov stepped up and hammered a one-timer toward the cage. Planted above the blue paint, Lee waved his stick at the puck and deflected it with the shaft past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic’s glove. Romanov registered the only assist.

New York goal!

Scored by Anders Lee with 07:01 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Alexander Romanov.

Pittsburgh: 3
New York: 1#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/gOkNSKdEtO

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 30, 2024

The Islanders persisted as forward Bo Horvat collected his 10th goal at 16:10 of the third with an extra attacker once again.

Taking a pass low in the Penguins’ right circle, Islanders forward Bo Horvat turned to his left and lifted a wrister on net. Nedeljkovic made the save and kicked out a rebound to his right. As Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves tried to box out Lee, the puck hit off Graves’ right leg before deflecting into the net. Defensemen Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech had assists.

New York goal!

Scored by Anders Lee with 03:50 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Bo Horvat and Ryan Pulock.

Pittsburgh: 3
New York: 2#NYIvsPIT #LetsGoPens #Isles pic.twitter.com/cP5otL57br

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 30, 2024

Nedeljkovic stopped 29 of 31 shots and improved his record to 6-5-3.

Crosby and the Penguins improved on quite a few things Sunday.

“It was a gutsy win,” Crosby said. “(Nedeljkovic) had some huge saves. Everyone chipped in different ways. That’s what you have to do to win consistently.”

Notes:

• Before Sunday, the last person other than Lemieux to be the Penguins’ career leader in assists was forward Syl Apps (349). Lemieux passed Apps with four assists in an 8-2 road win against the Islanders, Dec. 15, 1988.

It was Lemieux’s 321st career game.

-Defenseman Paul Coffey scored the goal Lemieux surpassed Apps on. During a power-play sequence, Coffey fired a one-timer that hit off the stick of Islanders forward Bryan Trottier and sailed past goaltender Kelly Hrudey’s glove:

The goal Lemieux passed Apps on was a power-play score by Paul Coffey (a one-timer that hit off Bryan Trottier's stick and sailed into the net): https://t.co/02WbnRNwhk pic.twitter.com/1PQWcJwxOI

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) December 30, 2024

• Malkin (1,327 points) surpassed former Buffalo Sabres forward Gilbert Perrault (1,326) for 34th place on the NHL’s all-time career scoring list.

• In Letang’s absence, Penguins forward Bryan Rust served as an alternate captain.

• Nedeljkovic (24-12-10) surpassed Dunc Wilson (23-30-10) for 22nd place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• In his NHL debut, Clurman primarily skated on the third pairing with Ryan Shea. Logging 11:05 of ice time on 17 shifts, Clurman had four shots on four attempts and recorded one penalty as well as one blocked shot.

• Clurman (Boulder) became the second native of Colorado to play for the Penguins.

Forward Joe Noris (Denver) skated in 35 games and had seven points (two goals, five assists) for the 1971-72 Penguins.

Noris was the first Coloradan to ever play in the NHL.

• Clurman became the 30th player to wear No. 4 in a game of consequence for the Penguins. His predecessors (via PittsburghHockey.net):

Noel Price, Bob Blackburn, Dave Burrows, Dale Tallon, Paul Baxter, Marty McSorley, Phil Bourque, Chris Dahlquist, Dwight Schofield, Larry Murphy, Gord Dineen, Greg Andrusak, Greg Hawgood, Corey Foster, Kevin Hatcher, Jeff Norton, Bobby Dollas, Mike Wilson, Jamie Pushor, Dan Focht, Cory Cross, Noah Welch, Rob Scuderi, Jordan Leopold, Zbynek Michalek, Mark Eaton, Justin Schultz, Cody Ceci, Taylor Fedun

• With Letang absent – to say nothing of fellow injured defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Owen Pickering – Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson logged a team-leading 2:42 of short-handed ice time.

Entering Sunday, he was 19th on the team with a total of 1:43 in short-handed ice time this season.

• In 89 career games against the Islanders, Crosby has 136 points (42 goals, 94 assists). No active player in the NHL has more points against any one franchise than Crosby does against the Islanders.

• Penguins forwards Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujarvi were healthy scratches.