Sidney Crosby moved into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL all-time points list on Saturday night in Los Angeles, scoring twice in a 5-2 Pittsburgh Penguins win over the Kings. The full story of that milestone night is in our original report on Crosby passing Marcel Dionne.
His first goal that night, at 17:13 of the second period, was career point 1,772, scored when Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer caught a piece of him on the way in, as NHL.com recorded. An awarded empty-net goal late made it 1,773 points, built on 660 goals and 1,113 assists, one night after he had tied Dionne at 1,771 in Montreal on October 31.
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Watch the milestone goal above on the NHL official channel. Crosby said the setting added to it: “I mean, it was probably a little bit cooler because it was here,” he said of passing Dionne, who played 12 seasons for the Kings, in Los Angeles.
Sidney Crosby Sixth All Time: Point 1774 Comes In Anaheim
FINAL: Anaheim Ducks 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 2. One night later, on Sunday at Honda Center, Crosby played his first game as the sole holder of sixth place and added to the total. He set up Rickard Rakell’s goal at 13:42 of the third period during 6-on-4 play, as the game recap of the Ducks 5-2 win recorded, reaching 1,774 career points with 660 goals and 1,114 assists.
The Anaheim highlights above, from the NHL official channel, show how different the night felt. Pittsburgh started well on the second half of a back-to-back, then watched the game turn on special teams, as the Penguins own game notes detailed. Anaheim built a 4-0 lead with essentially three power-play goals, while Pittsburgh failed to score on a lengthy 5-on-3 early in the second period.
Special Teams, And A Roster Note From Anaheim
“I mean, we have chances to score, we play hard, and I think it’s a big moment to play 5-on-3, almost a minute and a half,” Evgeni Malkin said. “If we score, maybe game changes. It’s tough loss, and just play better. Power play and PK, it’s very important.” Cutter Gauthier scored a hat trick for Anaheim, his third in five games, and Mikael Granlund had a goal and three assists.
Pittsburgh did push late. Kris Letang scored his first goal of the season at 8:05 of the third on a 6-on-4, and Rakell made it 4-2 before Gauthier closed the scoring into an empty net at 19:26. There was also a roster follow-up from the Kings game: Ville Koivunen missed the Anaheim game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, with Andrei Kuzmenko taking his spot in the lineup, per the Penguins notes linked above.
The Chase To Fifth Is Now 24 Points
The settled overnight context is the size of the next climb. Ron Francis sits fifth on the all-time list at 1,798 points, so Crosby at 1,774 is now 24 points from tying Francis and 25 from passing him into fifth place alone. One Anaheim assist moved that chase a point closer in less than 24 hours, and Crosby now has 13 points in 18 games this season, with Malkin adding two more assists in Anaheim to give him five in the two California games.
What it means next is a short reset, not a ceremony tour. “We need focus and fly to San Jose and play hard in San Jose (on Wednesday),” Malkin said after Anaheim. The Penguins close their California trip in San Jose on Wednesday, and every point Crosby adds from here is measured against one name only: Francis, and fifth place.
