PITTSBURGH - It's not a stretch to think that Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby might rack up at least three points on Tuesday night when the Calgary Flames visit PPG Paints Arena.
After all, he had two goals and an assist on Saturday at St. Louis.
If Crosby get three points against the Flames, he will reach 1,000 career points in front of his home fans. The Penguins play their subsequent two games on the road.
"At home would be really nice, but hockey is the way it is," Crosby said Monday. "I'll try my best to get it (Tuesday) night. You want to win the game ultimately, but if you can get a few points at home and get it, that would be great."
If his 1,000th point comes Tuesday, it will be in Crosby's 753rd game, 12th fastest in NHL history.
Crosby already has won two Stanley Cups, two Hart and two Art Ross trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy and one Rocket Richard Trophy. Hindsight will give Crosby proper perspective on 1,000 points, but approaching such a milestone has already prompted him to consider that number.
"You want to get it over with because you're close. You don't want to stew over it for a few games," he said. "But I definitely appreciate it.
"I think you just kind of reflect a bit on all the teams you've been a part of, all the guys you've played with and how quickly it goes by."
Crosby, 29, surely would have reached 1,000 a season or more ago if not for time lost to injuries. Specifically, he played in just 63 games combined in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons because of much-chronicled concussion symptoms.
"My mind didn't even venture to point totals or anything like that at that point," he said. "You just want to play the game, and you want to get back to the level that you can play at and feel healthy. As that comes back and you start to feel better, your goals change."
Crosby this season leads Pittsburgh with 59 points and leads the league with 30 goals.
"Creativity is one element to his game, but he has so many facets to his game," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's what separates him from other players, in my opinion.
"He can beat you so many different ways. He can play a power game. He can play a finesse game and a speed game and a creative game. He can beat you off the rush. He can beat you in the grind game underneath the hash marks. He's so versatile as a player offensively. That's what separates him."
Pittsburgh (33-13-5), which has won two games in a row, will be short-handed among forwards against Calgary.
Crosby's regular left winger, Conor Sheary, is out with a lower-body injury, as is fellow star center Evgeni Malkin, who practiced Monday for the first time but has not been cleared for contact. The latest injury is to left winger Carl Hagelin, who has a concussion sustained Saturday.
The Flames (27-25-3) had won two straight before falling to the Rangers 4-3 on Sunday. Tuesday marks end of three-game road trip and sends them into a five-day break.
Calgary is clawing to hold onto a wild-card spot in the West.
"We can feel pretty good about our game," winger Troy Brouwer said of the loss to New York, "but in our current situation pretty good doesn't get us points. We've got to learn from it, for sure, but we're in a tough stretch right now playing really good hockey teams - and we're playing really good hockey ourselves.
"We go into a very tough building in Pittsburgh, and we need to find ways to keep pace with everybody else."
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