PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was October 8, 2005 when Sidney Crosby scored his first NHL goal. Tuesday night, 1,075 games and three Stanley Cup championships later, Crosby scored his 500th at home against Philadelphia.
It ends up being a power play goal at 16:34 of the first period and assisted by the second-best Pens player of his generation, Evgeni Malkin. Crosby from near the goal line on the right side beat Carter Hart for his 500th.
The man advantage came after a cross check on Jake Guentzel and Crosby went after Philly defenseman Justin Bruan, but not enough to get a penalty himself.
“To see him score all of these goals, you think of him as a pass-first player,” said Guentzel. “Just the way he scores and finds different ways to score is pretty cool to see. You can learn so much from a player like that.”
“I think it represents an elite player,” Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said of 500 goals. “That’s elite company, there aren’t a lot of guys that reach that milestone. I think it represents a lot of things, to sum it up in a few words, it’s just an elite player.”
“It’s also an indication of competitiveness. Just perseverance and a guy like Sid that’s played as long as he has and has been able to sustain a certain level of play for as long as he has and continues to sustain an elite level of play. That’s an indication of his competitiveness and his will to win.”
Crosby is the second active player to reach 500 goals (Alex Ovechkin, 759). Next up on the all-time list is former Penguin Joey Mullen with 502, then Peter Bondra with 503.
For a such a superstitious player, the symmetry is uncanny with Crosby scoring his 500th goal while also scoring his 50th in his career against the Flyers (most against any team). It’s also former Pens star Jaromir Jagr’s 50th birthday.
How far as Crosby come? Hall of Famer Mark Recchi assisted on that first career goal and team owner Mario Lemieux also scored in that game. Crosby’s other teammates that day included Sergei Gonchar, Rico Fata, John LeClair, Ryan Malone, Dick Tarnstrom, Ziggy Palffy and Konstantin Koltsov. Among the Bruins in that game-Patrice Bergeron, Hal Gill, Shawn McEachern, Brian Leetch, Jiri Slegr and Joe Thornton.