The wait for Sidney Crosby to hit 1,000

When the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Calgary Flames, Sidney Crosby hit 998 points: just two away from 1,000. With their next two games on the road against Colorado and Arizona - the two worst teams in the NHL this season, by far - it seemed obvious Crosby would be hitting the milestone away from home.

And yet, pointless for the first time in nearly a full calendar year.

Now Crosby will have the chance to hit the milestone in front of his home crowd, as the Penguins’ next two games are against Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Neither are particularly compelling opponents; not in the way that Alexander Ovechkin getting his 1,000th point against, well, you know, was.

Not that it’s the opponent that matters, or even hitting the milestone in particular. Crosby helping the Penguins win is what’s most important here, and when his 1,000th point comes, then it’ll come.

That said, there is a particularly suitable opponent coming up for the Penguins. On Feb. 19, they host the Detroit Red Wings.

How good would that be: Crosby getting his 1,000th point against the team he won his first Stanley Cup over?

On the other hand, that would mean it’d take another week - four games - for Crosby to score another two points, and that’s a bit much. He already has 60 points in 48 games this season, and going pointless in back-to-back games is obviously an anomaly for him. So... probably not gonna happen.

It’ll probably happen sooner rather than later, though - and it’s bound to be good when it does, no matter what.