Penguins' Sidney Crosby Records 500th Assist of Career

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby became the sixth-fastest player to 500 assists in NHL history, reaching the mark in his 554th career game Saturday against the New York Islanders, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com).

Crosby entered the game with 498 career assists, having already piled up four goals and three assists through the first three games of the season.

He failed to find the net for the first time all year yet still made his presence felt by assisting on Pittsburgh's first and third goals in a 3-1 victory over the Isles that improved the team's record to 3-1-0.

Tied with Islanders center John Tavares at a league-leading nine points, Crosby is off to the best start imaginable as he looks for the sixth 100-point season of his career.

Each of the five players to reach 500 assists faster than the 27-year-old center has a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame, with the group comprised of Wayne Gretzky (352 games), Mario Lemieux (433), Peter Stastny (507), Bobby Orr (522) and Peter Forsberg (551).

Crosby will one day make it six out of six, as he's been consistently excellent when healthy, piling up 278 goals to go with his 500 assists over 554 games. With 778 career points, he's averaging 1.4 per contest, good for fourth-best in NHL history, per Hockey-Reference.com.