Crosby ties Lemieux’s franchise assists record, leads Penguins past Flyers 7-3

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Bryan Rust (17) celebrates with Sidney Crosby (87) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored a goal and added three assists to tie Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for most assists in team history and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-3 on Monday night. Crosby and Lemieux both have 1,033 assists, which ranks 12th all-time in NHL history. Michael Bunting scored twice, and Bryan Rust, Philip Tomasino, Rickard Rakell and Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry made 23 saves. Noah Cates, Sean Couturier and Egor Zamula scored for the Flyers. Samuel Ersson stopped nine shots in the first two periods. He was replaced by Aleksei Kolosov, who made six saves.