Ho-Hum, Sidney Crosby’s Closing in on Yet Another Milestone

Sidney Crosby will appear in his 1,200th NHL game when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit San Jose Saturday night.

He’s aware of that — not a whole lot gets past that guy — but isn’t dwelling on his looming achievement.

“I don’t think about milestones a lot, in general,” Crosby said. “But as far as games-played, it’s a nice number, when it’s 1,200. But at the same time, it’s just more about … the experiences, the friendships, all the stuff that’s gone on over those games more than the actual games-played.”

Perhaps Crosby doesn’t focus much on milestones because he’s reached so many since entering the NHL in 2005.

He has, for example, breached the 500-goal mark (555), the 900-assist plateau (957) and the 1,500-point barrier (1,512).

Factor in three Stanley Cups, and Crosby clearly has crammed a lot of productive hockey into his first 1,199 games.

“I’m grateful that I’ve been able to play this long,” he said. “And I love it just as much as I did Game 1.”

When he reaches Game No. 1,200, Crosby will tie Owen Nolan for 127th place on the league’s all-time list. The one after that will pull him even with Keith Tkachuk in 126th.

Crosby enters the Sharks game as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ No. 2 scorer, with 10 points; he trails Evgeni Malkin by one.

Crosby is tied with Bryan Rust and Malkin for the team lead with five goals and is tied with Kris Letang for third with five assists, behind Jake Guentzel (7) and Malkin (6).