NHL PUCK DROPS: Sidney Crosby reaches significant milestone

It didn’t take long for Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby to reach a significant milestone this season.

The 39-year-old, from Cole Harbour, N.S., collected his 1,110th career NHL regular-season assist during a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 16. He moved past Joe Thornton into seventh among the all-time assist leaders.

Crosby has six points in his first nine games. He should continue to move up that leaderboard as the season progresses. As of Oct. 18, he needed 26 more to pass Paul Coffey (1,135) and 46 to move ahead of Jaromir Jagr (1,155).

The Penguins need Crosby to remain productive this season if they hope to build on last season’s improvement. They started with two wins but had one win (1-5-1) in their last seven games entering an Oct. 19 game against the Utah Mammoth.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche was 5-2-1 through their first eight games, putting themselves among the top teams in the Western Conference.

Nathan MacKinnon continued to lead the way offensively for the Avalanche. The 31-year-old centre (also from Cole Harbour) began this week in his usual spot among the league’s top-five scorers with 16 points.

MacKinnon has also been more physically aggressive this season. He began the season by fighting Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke, followed by a scrap with Dallas Stars centre Roope Hintz on Oct. 13 that left the Avalanche star with a bloody nose.

The Avalanche’s humiliating sweep from the Western Conference Final could explain MacKinnon’s agitating style. It’s a far cry from when he won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2019-20 as the league’s most gentlemanly player.

Turning to the Florida Panthers, winger Brad Marchand made a brief return from off-season surgery before being sidelined in his second game.

Marchand, 38, suffered a leg injury against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 6 and was helped from the ice. Marchand, from Hammond Plains, N.S., was given a six-week recovery period, meaning he’ll likely return in mid-to-late November.

Speaking of injuries, the Montreal Canadiens’ Noah Dobson took a puck to the jaw during his club’s 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 13.

The incident occurred during the second period, leaving the Summerside defenceman prostrate on the ice for a few moments before he headed to the dressing room. Fortunately, the 27-year-old Dobson returned in the third period none the worse for wear.

A big, puck-moving defenceman, the six-foot-four, 200-pound Dobson has garnered attention for his physical play this season. Paired with superstar Lane Hutson, the duo has been the Canadiens’ best defence tandem thus far.

Meanwhile, Dobson’s teammate Alex Newhook has looked comfortable centering the Canadiens second line with wingers Chris Kreider and Josh Anderson.

That line was put together because Newhook’s usual linemates of Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen were sidelined by injuries. The 25-year-old Newhook, from St. John’s, N.L., had four points in eight games as his line blends speed and physical play to good effect.

Turning to the New Jersey Devils, goaltender Jake Allen recently celebrated a notable milestone.

Allen, from Fredericton, N.B., reached the 500-game milestone on Oct. 10, backstopping his club to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

The 36-year-old Allen is in his 14th NHL season, and his fourth with the Devils. Entering this week, he’s won 228 regular-season games, with a career save percentage of 2.76 and a .907 save percentage. A member of the NHL’s all-rookie team in 2014-15, he won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.

Lyle Richardson is a freelance writer with The Hockey News and Bleacher Report and runs the website Spector’s Hockey. His column will appear in The Guardian through the NHL season.