Sidney Crosby on Thursday completed his march to 1,000 career points in typically unselfish fashion. The Pittsburgh star then wasted little time before starting his quest for the next thousand.
He fed Chris Kunitz for a first-period goal against Winnipeg, becoming the 86th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points, added an assist on Phil Kessel’s game-tying goal in the third and put the winner past Connor Hellebuyck with 21 seconds left in overtime as his side escaped with a 4-3 victory.
Crosby finished with three points to push his total 1,002. Evgeni Malkin also scored for Pittsburgh, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44 shots for the Penguins, who improved to 6-0-2 since the All-Star break.
Patrik Laine scored his 27th for Winnipeg. Paul Postma collected his first and Dustin Byfuglien his eighth for the Jets. Hellebuyck made 35 saves, but could not get a handle on Crosby’s 31st of the season and 369th goal of his career.
In other results, it was:
‧ Islanders 4, Rangers 2
‧ Wild 3, Stars 1
‧ Oilers 6, Flyers 3
‧ Blues 4, Canucks 3
‧ Senators 3, Devils 0
‧ Sabres 2, Avalanche 0
‧ Coyotes 5, Kings 3
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Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
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