Crosby passed Lemieux in Penguins playoff points. Whose stats are more impressive?

Sidney Crosby added yet another milestone achievement to his already lengthy list. He has passed Mario Lemieux for all-time playoff points in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. But whose total is more impressive?

In the second period of Wednesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sidney Crosby scored to officially pass Mario Lemieux for most playoff points in the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

Crosby is the best player in this generation, but is his new record more impressive than Lemieux’s? It is close, and Crosby still has time to add to his resume, but Mario’s record is more impressive.

The new record is 173 and counting. Crosby’s career got started in 2005 and he has been dominant ever since. He has picked up a total of three Stanley Cups and 62 playoff goals. He has had a great cast around him each year, including players like Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz. Having this supporting cast makes picking up the record a little easier. Malkin is not far behind these two in points, with 160.

The other advantage Crosby has during his career is the way the game is officiated. After the 2005-06 lockout, the game opened up for forwards and league-wide scoring began to increase again. This was a huge benefit for young players like Crosby who were able to ride the wave of high-scoring offenses to big point totals.

Lemieux has two Stanley cups of his own. His list of teammates with great offensive output is limited, the most notable being Jaromir Jagr. In the two years he won the Stanley Cup, Lemieux had collected 78 points in 38 games. That is one of the most incredible playoff stretches in the history of the league. Lemieux was playing with numerous health injuries during his career, as well. He battled multiple back issues, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during his prime and an irregular heartbeat later in his career. Being able to perform when the pressure is on makes his record even more impressive.

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If this was not enough to determine whose stats are more impressive, consider this one remaining fact. To date, Crosby has played in 152 playoff games. Lemieux has played in 50 fewer playoff games. No disrespect to Sidney Crosby, because this record is special and hard to accomplish, but Mario Lemieux definitely did it better.

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