- Sidney Crosby passed Joe Thornton for seventh on the NHL’s all-time assists list
- His 1,110th career assist came on Bryan Rust’s first-period goal in Denver
- Read below for the video and who is left ahead of him
Sidney Crosby just moved past Joe Thornton on the NHL’s all-time assists list.
The Penguins captain picked up his 1,110th career assist on Bryan Rust’s first-period goal Friday night against the Avalanche, which puts him seventh in league history.
Watch the moment:
Rust scored at 8:57 of the first period in Denver, with Crosby and Samuel Girard getting the helpers. Thornton finished his career with 1,109 assists, and Crosby came into the night tied with him.
The NHL marked the milestone right away:
Only six players have more assists than Crosby now: Wayne Gretzky (1,963), Ron Francis (1,249), Mark Messier (1,193), Ray Bourque (1,169), Jaromir Jagr (1,155) and Paul Coffey (1,135).
The 39-year-old has two goals and three assists this season. You can follow every line of his career totals on our Sidney Crosby stats page.
Evgeni Malkin had opened the scoring at 8:28 of the first period, finishing a goal while falling. Check out the goal:
Nathan MacKinnon set up Artturi Lehkonen’s goal at 11:01 to answer for Colorado, and Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead into the second period. Crosby, Malkin and Letang already set an NHL record for wins by a trio earlier this season.
Coffey’s 1,135 is next on the list, 25 assists away.
