Crosby Surpasses Lemieux in the Record Books

There are not many Penguins franchise scoring records that Mario Lemieux does not own, but on Wednesday night he dropped to second in one category.

With a goal and an assist during Game 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sidney Crosby surpassed Le Magnifique as the franchise’s all time playoff scoring leader with 173 career playoff points.

Crosby first tied Mario atop the list with an assist on Evgeni Malkin’s power play goal in the first period then claimed the top spot for himself in the second period with a sneaky goal past Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth.

It took Crosby 152 career playoff games to reach the milestone which equals out to a 1.14 points per game.

While it’s not fair to compare players across generations because of how the game changes, Mario reached 172 playoff points in just 107 career games for an absurd 1.61 points per game.

None of that means anything or tarnishes Crosby’s feat in anyway because both are remarkable players in their own right who dominated the game for their entire careers. We’re just unspeakably lucky to have watched them work their craft right here in Pittsburgh.

The good news for Crosby is he will have plenty of time to add to that total as the playoffs and his career progress. He better keep an eye on the rear mirror though because Evgeni Malkin is nipping at his heels with 162 career playoff points.

More franchise history was made during Game 4 as defenseman Kris Letang tied Larry Murphy atop the list for career playoff points by a defenseman in Penguins history with his second period goal.

Both Letang and Murphy sit at 72 career points but Letang could easily take the top spot to himself at any moment.