There were grumbles and boos in the Penguins' locker room on Saturday during the handoff of the teams' helmet recognizing the player of the game.

Blake Lizotte got the helmet, absolutely a worthy recipient after scoring the game-winner in the Penguins' 5-3 win over the Stars here in Dallas. That wasn't the issue. The unrest was over Sidney Crosby handing off the helmet at all:

Despite the pleas of "Keep it!" started by Bryan Rust, Crosby, of course, refused to be selfish and chose to recognize Lizotte's efforts. But with a hat trick and an assist, Crosby was undoubtedly the biggest driver behind the Penguins' success here this afternoon.

That's been the case for Crosby's 20 seasons, and has been exceptionally true this year, as Crosby continues to be productive as the Penguins continue the retooling process.

Crosby, seemingly, hits significant milestones every other week this season that serve as reminders of just how dominant he continues to be at age 37, and that was true today. Crosby extended his point streak to 12 games, a streak in which he's amassed 11 goals and nine assists. It's tied for the longest point streak by a player aged 37 or older in NHL history.

Crosby's already been crowned the NHL's king of consistency, surpassing Wayne Gretzky with a record 20th point-per-game season this year. But to also do it on a smaller scale like this, game-to-game, for another record is something special.

I asked Crosby what has allowed him to keep bringing this consistency, and in true Crosby fashion, the first thing he said was, "Good linemates."

"I'm trying to approach every game the same way," Crosby continued. "It's a long season, and there's some nights you feel better than others, and different parts of the schedule, different matchups. But I really try to take it one at a time and make sure that I'm competing and trying to do my best every night. Between that and playing with some great players over the years, it helps a lot."

Crosby gave the Penguins the game's first lead early in the game. The Penguins were nearing the end of their first power-play opportunity when Evgeni Malkin received the puck from Kris Letang below the goal line. He found Crosby with a centering pass to the slot, and Crosby fired it past Casey DeSmith:

The Stars' Evgenii Dadonov tied the game midway through the first, and then gave Dallas the lead in the second. But it was Crosby, once again, who scored to tie the game.

The third period was just 20 seconds old when Rutger McGroarty found Crosby with a quick no-look backhand pass, and Crosby dropped to one knee as he again beat DeSmith:

Dadonov completed his hat trick minutes later to put the Stars back up 3-2, until Crosby set up Bryan Rust for the tying goal:

Lizotte scored the go-ahead goal with 1:43 remaining, capitalizing after a miscommunication between Thomas Harley and Cody Ceci led to a turnover in the Stars' end. And as the Stars pulled DeSmith for the extra attacker in a late desperate attempt to tie the game, Crosby again scored a goal from the slot ... the defensive zone slot:

Since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, Crosby has been among the league's most productive players. His 13 goals in 20 games is tied for fourth, two shy of the league-lead in that span. His 28 points rank fifth, also two shy of the league lead.

"He's bringing a certain effort every night," Mike Sullivan said. "He's the heartbeat of this group. He drives the pulse. When he's playing on top of his game the way he is, he gives us a chance to win. He's competing on both sides of the puck. His line has been really good, he's been great with the kids -- Rutger on his line, Ville (Koivunen) on the power play. Those guys are having a lot of fun being around him, and he's having a lot of fun working with them. He's just playing terrific hockey right now."

The Penguins are obviously long past fighting for a playoff spot, and in all likelihood will officially, mathematically be eliminated from contention in the coming days. But everything in Crosby's nature is going to have him keep trying to compete the rest of the way, and that's infectious. 

A couple of weeks ago, players spoke about the importance of trying to win down this last stretch because of the culture they're trying to create going into next season. With a pair of rookies in McGroarty and Koivunen who will likely be at the forefront of the next era of Penguins hockey now on the roster, the benefit of showing them some semblance of a winning culture in their early experiences in the NHL just amplifies that importance of still trying to win and take these games seriously.

As this next wave comes up and joins the likes of McGroarty and Koivunen, there's no better example to create that culture than Crosby, and the way he's still doing what he is at his age, in a season like this one.