Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) skates with the puck in a shootout against the Montréal Canadien at PPG Paints Arena. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Sidney Crosby breaks longtime Penguins franchise record

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Dec 21, 2025 10:36 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night was significant for several reasons. From a team perspective, it gave the Penguins a much-needed win and snapped what had been an ugly — and at times baffling — eight-game losing streak. It also gave them their first shootout win of the season after losing five of them in a row.

It also saw captain Sidney Crosby take over the franchise's all-time scoring lead, as he passed Hall of Fame player Mario Lemieux.

Sidney Crosby is now Pittsburgh Penguins' all-time leading scorer

With Crosby's assist on Rickard Rakell's first-period goal, he recorded the 1,724th point of his career, putting him into sole possession of the franchise's all-time scoring lead.

Lemieux has long been considered the greatest player in franchise history — and one of the top players in the history of the sport — and owned the record since his retirement early in the 2005-06 season.

POINT 1,724 pic.twitter.com/KCkRszWiDg
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 22, 2025

What makes Lemieux's point total so impressive is that he reached it in only 915 regular-season games.

It has taken Crosby 1,387 regular-season games.

That is not to take anything away from Crosby's quest to take over that record. It is simply a testament to Lemieux's greatness, as well as the era in which he played, which featured far more offense and scoring than Crosby's era.

Crosby is also a worthy player to take over that title from Lemieux. He is also one of the best players in NHL history, and has arguably put together a better career than Lemieux. Not only in terms of more total points, but also the fact that he has helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cups. Lemieux was drafted into a far worse situation in Pittsburgh in the mid-1980s and had more injuries limit his career, especially throughout his prime years. While Crosby has had his share of injuries, he has played significantly longer, won more and now owns the franchise scoring lead.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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