Rutger McGroarty makes his feelings known about playing on same line with Sidney Crosby on his 21st birthday

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins took down the Ottawa Senators 1-0 in overtime on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. In a rare scoreless game after regulation, Pittsburgh began overtime with a 4-on-3 power play, and it was the captain who was the hero.

Sidney Crosby blasted a one-timer from the top of the circle into the top corner past Anton Forsberg for the win. It was a nice bounce-back performance from the Pens after being outscored by a combined 13-4 in prior losses to Buffalo and Tampa Bay.

While the Penguins will likely miss the playoffs for a third straight season, it was an exciting day as promising prospects Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen were called up to play with the big club on Sunday. It was a particularly special moment for McGroarty, who played on Crosby's left wing on what happened to be his 21st birthday.

The 21-year-old was asked during his postgame media availability where playing on the top line with Crosby ranks in terms of a birthday present.

"I love my parents, love, love my sister, my girlfriend, but no present they've ever gotten me could live up to that," McGroarty said (1:10). "Yeah, it was really cool. I feel like my first couple shifts just adjusting to the speed, I would say, my first two to three shifts, and just how fast he plays and the tempo he plays at.

"And then just kind of reading off of him as well. I mean, he's such an easy player to read off of, and his communication is great. And he's just a very, just very good hockey player. So I feel like just getting used to that tempo the first two to three shifts, and then after that, it felt really good."

Rutger McGroarty had a solid game beside Sidney Crosby. The 14th overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft had three shots on goal, four hits and one blocked shot in 16:57 of ice time.

Sidney Crosby secured his 20th consecutive season of producing at over a point-per-game

Sidney Crosby made history this past week.

The 37-year-old clinched his 20th straight point-per-game season, scoring a goal in Thursday's 7-3 loss in Buffalo, which surpassed Wayne Gretzky (19 seasons) for the most in NHL history.

His overtime winner on Sunday ensured that he will once again average more than a point per game in 2024-25, as he has done for the previous 20 seasons.

Crosby continues to amaze, having amassed 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) in 73 games on the campaign.

Crosby and the Penguins will face the St. Louis Blues next on Thursday. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at Enterprise Center.