Pens' Crosby 21st NHL player to reach 600 goals
PITTSBURGH — Captain Sidney Crosby scored his 600th NHL goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night during his club’s 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club.
Crosby is the 21st player in NHL history to reach the milestone. And he landed at 600 with 10 seconds left on a five-on-three power play, giving him seven goals in his last 12 games. Crosby finished a one-timer from the right side of the net, set up on a pass from Erik Karlsson at 3:11 of the second period.
“It’s hard to say, there’s lots of time to think about that, when I’m done playing,” Crosby said on the game broadcast, when asked where No. 600 ranked on his list of career accomplishments. “But it’s nice to get it. I’ve been hovering right around it.”
According to ESPN Research, Crosby, a former No. 1 overall pick by the Penguins, is the seventh player in NHL history to score 600 for a single franchise and the second to do so with Pittsburgh. Mario Lemieux finished his career with 690 goals.
“It means a lot,” Crosby said when asked how special the accomplishment is to have done so entirely for Pittsburgh. “Obviously, I’ve been here for a long time. And to be able to do it at home, and have another memory, it’s special, and happy to see it go in.”
Dylan Guenther scored twice, while Nick Bjugstad, Jack McBain, Mikhail Sergachev and Alexander Kerfoot also scored for Utah. Karel Vejmelka stopped 27 shots for Utah in the win.
Karlsson surpassed Borje Salming for 15th place on the NHL’s career assists list among defensemen. And Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for Pittsburgh in the loss.
Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are the only active players with at least 600 NHL goals. Crosby is the seventh player in NHL history to score 600 goals with one team and joined Mario Lemieux (690) as the only two Penguins to score 600 goals with the franchise.
Pittsburgh is the second team in NHL history with multiple 600-goal scorers, joining Detroit’s Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
