PITTSBURGH — Penguins captain Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for most assists in team history during the second period Sunday against the New York Islanders.
Crosby was behind the net when he sent a backhand feed to Michael Bunting, who buried a power-play goal behind Marcus Hogberg at 1:36, putting the Penguins ahead 2-0. After the goal was announced, play briefly stopped as Crosby received a standing ovation and waved his glove to acknowledge the hometown crowd.
Crosby now has 1,034 assists, good for 12th in NHL history. Only three players — Ray Bourque, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman — have more assists with a single team.
Crosby scored a goal and added three assists to tie the record during a 7-3 home win Monday against Philadelphia. Crosby thought he broke the mark during a road loss on Saturday against the Islanders, but the assist was taken away.
Lemieux, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 1,723 points, led Pittsburgh to its first two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 as a player and owned the team when Crosby captioned the Penguins to championships in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
Crosby has two goals and 13 points in his last eight games.