Penguins News: Sidney Crosby reaches 30 goals vs Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. It was a big game for Chicago as Connor Bedard returned after being gone for over a month due to an injury. 

Bedard’s childhood idol was Sidney Crosby so he got to debut against him and make his return from injury with his top hockey role model on the other side. 

Despite Bedard making his return, the Penguins stole the show and won the game 4-1. They were the better team in their quest to get back in the postseason race.

In the win, Crosby scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season. At age 36, reaching these heights is truly remarkable. Sid has 24 assists to go with those 30 goals so he has 54 points in 51 games played. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins still have a superstar in Sidney Crosby

This is the 12th time that he has reached 30 goals in his Hall of Fame career. He has now scored 580 goals in total. He should blow past the 600 plateau with ease in 2024-25. Who knows, he may get closer than we think this season. He is actually on pace for 48 which would put him at 598. 

Reaching the 30-goal mark is a sign of a very good goal scorer. People who score 30 goals put one in the back of the net on average once every 3 games. However, Crosby is there halfway through February so he is doing well in that department so far this year. 

Crosby currently has more goals than assists. If the season finishes that way, it would be the first time it happened in his career. The closest he’s come was when he had 44 goals and 45 assists in 2016-17. 

It is odd to see that be the case at all. This is a player that was once a heavy “pass first” type of guy. What made Crosby so good throughout his career was his ability to make others around him better. He has 976 assists for a reason. 

With that said, he has developed his goal-scoring ability. It is aging like fine wine as he is currently having one of his best seasons ever when it comes to filling the net himself. 

We can only hope that Sidney Crosby plays a lot more hockey. Watching him matchup with Bedard is always going to be special so it was good to see what went down today with Bedard coming back and Crosby scoring twice. Bedard made a sweet play himself that earned him an assist but it was far from enough with this terrible Hawks team. 

Crosby will go against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night. Meanwhile, Bedard will face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon. These teams are not in the same boat at all right now but it is always theatre when they do match up.