Penguins Update.

LEFT: Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby is congratulated after scoring his 100th point of the season in the second period against the New York Islanders at Mellon Arena, April 17, 2006. Chaz Palla/TRIBUNE-REVIEW

What may be the last Pittsburgh Penguins season draws to a close with a bit of good news.

Sidney Crosby turned to Ryan Malone on the bench before Monday night's Penguins game against the New York Islanders and told him it was the most nervous he'd been before a game this season.

Thirty-five minutes and 44 seconds later, at 15:44 of the second period, Crosby assisted on a goal by Malone that gave him three points on the night and 100 on the season.

Crosby is only the seventh rookie in the history of the NHL to reach the century mark and is tied with Mario Lemieux for points by a rookie.

"It was a special moment," Crosby said after the Penguins' 6-1 win over the New York Islanders in their final home game of the season. "You're only a rookie once. You only get one opportunity to do that, and it was nice to be able to do that, especially here. I scored my first goal here, and it was a very similar feeling to that. It's also nice the way the guys were really pushing for me the last few games here and trying really hard to help me accomplish this. I can't say enough about what they've done to support me."

After the goal, a wide-eyed, smiling Crosby raced over to embrace Malone, while the sellout crowd of 17,084 at Mellon Arena went wild, sending the decibel level through the roof and "Pittsburgh First" T-shirts that were given away at the door down to the ice below.

Crosby assisted on three of the Penguins' first four goals, getting his first point one minute, four seconds into the game and his second and third points just 25 seconds apart in the second period. He has 38 goals and 62 assists, and is five points behind the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin, who reached 100 points exactly one week earlier.

At 18 years, 253 old, Crosby is the youngest player to ever reach the milestone.

He stood at 80 points with 10 games to go in the season but now has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in his last nine games going into tonight's 2005-06 season finale at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's something that's been talked about a lot, so it's nice to get it and nice to have the weight off the shoulders, too," Crosby said.

For all the flash that Crosby is capable of exhibiting, his assist for the 100th point was fairly routine and came just six seconds into a Penguins power play.

"Johnny (LeClair) knew I was going to lose the draw, so Johnny got a good jump on the guy and ended up knocking it to Sid," Malone said. "Sid gave me a good pass, and I had a lot of time to tee it up in the slot and ended up putting it in (past goaltender Garth Snow). He gave me a nice pass earlier in the period that I should have buried, so I told him I owed him one."

It was the Penguins' 22nd win of the year, as they edged closer to finishing out of last place. With 58 points and one game left they are just ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who have 56 points and finish their season tonight at the Chicago Blackhawks. (Thanks to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review for the heads up.)