The 38-year-old Penguins captain set the record at 16:18 of the second period, collecting a loose puck in the right circle for a wrist shot in the high slot to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. He has six points (three goals, three assists) on a four-game point streak.
“There’s so many new things and the expectations and everything that comes with it as a young player,” Crosby said. “So, having someone like Mario and his family there to just keep things as normal as possible, to be there for anything that I needed, any questions I had, just to keep things as normal as they could possibly be given the situation.
“I don’t know if I can put into words how much it means, but it’s meant a lot, and I really cherish that. That relationship and his family and everything that they’ve done for me.”
Kris Letang had two assists for Pittsburgh, becoming the 20th defenseman in NHL history with 600.
Justin Brazeau had a goal and two assists, Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist, and Arturs Silovs made 23 saves for the Penguins (5-2-0), who have won three in a row.
Conor Garland scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves for the Canucks (4-3-0), who had won their previous three.
“We could’ve been up 3, 4-nothing in the first 10 minutes, but it didn’t happen,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. “I think you run out of a little bit of gas, you put yourself in a situation where you take some penalties you probably, most likely, wouldn’t take. … A lot of good things early. We looked like we just ran out of a little bit of gas.”