Crosby makes NHL history in Penguins win over Flyers

Sidney Crosby made a few new marks in the NHL record books Monday night with his two-goal outing in a 5-1 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Crosby opened scoring in the first period, then scored the game-winner on a second period power play as boos rained down from the crowd at Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s a look at all the ways Crosby climbed the all-time NHL rankings Saturday night, courtesy of NHL Stats:

• Crosby’s first goal marked the 60th time he has opened scoring in an away game, moving him past Jaromir Jagr for the third-most road game-opening goals in NHL history. Only Brett Hull (65) and Alex Ovechkin (73) have scored more.

• His second goal marked the 300th road goal of his career. He’s the 14th NHL player to reach that milestone.

• That tally also marked the 572nd time Crosby has recorded a point on a go-ahead goal, passing Mark Messier for the fourth-most in NHL history. He now sits behind only Ron Francis (581), Jaromir Jagr (644) and Wayne Gretzky (742) for the most of all time.

• This is the 102nd time Crosby has scored a game-winning goal, passing Jarome Iginla’s 101th game-winners for the most in NHL history.

• It’s also 851st game Crosby has won with the Penguins, including the playoffs. That moves him up to tie with Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe for the sixth most victories any player has claimed with a single franchise.

• Crosby already went into Monday night’s game as the all-time leading scorer versus the Flyers. He extended his records to 59 goals and 137 points, the most in NHL history against Philadelphia, with Monday night’s win.

This might not be the last time Crosby updates NHL record books this season.

For one thing, he’s just seven points away from passing Mario Lemieux (1,714 career points) for eighth on the NHL’s all-time leaderboard.

He’s also near the top of this season’s scoring race. Crosby scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season to climb past Kirill Kaprizov and rank third behind Nathan MacKinnon and Morgan Geekie for the most in the league this fall.

That puts the Penguins captain is on track to score 55 goals in 82 games.

The scoring record for anyone playing at age 38 or older is 44 goals, set by 40-year-old Howe in 1969 and tied by 39-year-old Alex Ovechkin last season.

If Crosby stays healthy and keeps this pace up, he could end up recording one of the best age-38 seasons the NHL has ever seen.