Sidney Crosby: I'll Never Be Greater Than Mario Lemieux

He's dominated the NHL for more than a decade, but Sidney Crosby says he'll never surpass Mario Lemieux as the greatest Penguins player of all time!

Crosby is definitely in the conversation ... after racking up 411 goals (3rd all time in Penguins history) and 705 assists (2nd all time in Penguins history) ... and he's still got at least 5 solid years left!

So, when we saw Crosby out in Washington after beating the Caps, we had to ask where he thinks he fits in the G.O.A.T. conversation.

One more topic ... greatest Penguins duo of all time -- Crosby and Evgeni Malkin or Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr?

"Gotta go with Lemieux and Jagr," Crosby said ... "[they] got more points than us by a landslide!"

Crosby's right ... he and Malkin only have 2,046 total points while Jagr and Lemieux have 3,604!

We pointed out that Crosby and Malkin have 3 Stanley Cups -- one more than Mario and Jaromir -- but Sidney said he doesn't really use Cups to measure all time greatness.