NHL Honors Sidney Crosby’s Accomplishments

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby has been honored as the NHL’s No. 2 star for the week that ended Sunday.

Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov, the league’s leading scorer, is the No. 1 star and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin is No. 3.

Crosby had five goals and one assist in the Penguins’ four games, all of which they won to climb back into serious contention for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

In the process, he tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record by recording a point-per-game average (or better) for the 19th time.

Crosby also scored his 40th goal of the season, hitting that milestone for the third time in his career. That made him just the seventh player in league history to get 40 or more at age 36.

He has played a leading role in keeping the Penguins in the fight for a playoff berth, and is trying to help them become the first NHL team to overcome a nine-point deficit in its final 11 games to qualify for the postseason.