Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Sidney Crosby accomplishes career first in Pens' season-opener

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated Oct 13, 2022 9:11 PM ET

Entering his 18th season in the NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby has compiled a laundry list of accomplishments that will one day land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Crosby has scored over 500 goals during his NHL career. However, until Thursday's season-opener against the Arizona Coyotes, the 35-year-old had never tallied the Penguins' first goal of a season.

Just 1:22 into the first period, Crosby scored off a nice pass in front from Jake Guentzel, burying the puck top-shelf over the shoulder of Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmalka.

A Sidney Crosby hockey first? You don't see that every day.

For the first time in Sidney Crosby's career, he has scored the first Penguins goal of the season. pic.twitter.com/vJ5bfnYG1A
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 13, 2022

The three-time Stanley Cup Champion had another impressive season last year. In 2021-2022, Crosby finished tied with Guentzel for the team lead in points (84), recording 31 goals and 53 assists in 69 games.

Crosby is one of five Penguins who are 35-year-old or older but doesn't seem bothered by it after 17 seasons in the league.

"I didn't really worry about age when I was 18," Crosby told Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review earlier this month. "I'm not going to start at 35."

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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