Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Where would the Pittsburgh Penguins be if captain Sidney Crosby weren’t still able to make magic seemingly with pucks his teammates get anywhere near him? Surely not sitting in a playoff spot, as they are as of Wednesday.
Setting up Crosby, who has 643 career goals, 15th all-time, can be an art form. Or it can be a desperate or lucky-looking play.
With 18 goals in 25 games this season, Crosby ranks third in the NHL. As has been chronicled, at 38 Crosby is not slowing down. In fact, he’s as savvy as ever, judging by the chances he has been converting.
Over the past week, covering three games, Crosby has five goals, and some of the setups were sweet. Or at least he made them that way.
In Friday’s 4-3 win in Columbus, Crosby scored twice. The first, the game’s opener, was a classic backdoor pass from 20-year teammate Kris Letang. Crosby sank to one knee and guided the puck in from next to the post.
“When we play together for that long, we build chemistry and we build tendencies, and we work on different plays that we see in the game. And when we connect, it’s always fun. It’s not always goals that you see a ton in the league,” Letang, who later scored the overtime winner that night, said Wednesday after practice.
According to the NHL, Crosby and Letang have combined on 310 goals, tied for second all-time for a forward-defenseman duo. Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey lead at 350. Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty also have 310.
“It’s always fun when we get on the scoring sheet together, especially with a play that we’ve been practicing for a long time,” Letang said.
Crosby’s second goal against Columbus, the tying goal in the third, has had people talking since.
Crosby jumped over the boards with Evgeni Malkin coming off. He raced down the right side and looked for the pass that Tommy Novak was already sending his way, albeit a tad behind him. To kick the puck up to his stick — a move he’s adept at — would have meant slowing some, and Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov was threatening to close in. So Crosby let the puck go behind him and off the boards. He raced to catch up with it coming off the boards at a fortuitous angle for a short breakaway and beat goaltender Jet Greaves, who opted not to risk coming out to try to poke the puck away from Crosby.
“It was cool because that was my first time on the scoresheet with him, so that was nice. Hopefully, not the last,” Novak said.
“It’s just throwing it over there, really, and he makes the play to not play it and let it bounce off the boards perfectly. It’s impressive by him more than me. I was changing when the play was going on. I got off the ice. I didn’t see it live. I watched the replay.”
There was some sort of advanced, on-the-fly geometry or physics playing out in Crosby’s mind, apparently, but he was humble as always, recounting the play.
“I think you’re just trying to stay onside at that point. That’s the first thing,” he said. “And then trying to read it off of there. I was just thinking that staying on side and keeping my speed was the most important thing, whether to get on the forecheck. I didn’t know I was going to have a breakaway.”
Letang had no reason to downplay Crosby’s skill on that goal.
“It’s Sid’s IQ, but it’s also Novak’s way of getting him the puck,” Letang said. “The player that’s on the receiving end, usually you have to make a decision – if you decide to turn and try to catch it or if you decide to use your speed and try to guess where the puck’s going to go. With a high hockey IQ like Sid has, you can find those openings.”
Saturday in a 7-2 loss to Toronto, Crosby, on the edge of the crease, took a feed from Kevin Hayes and forcefully backhanded the puck past goaltender Dennis Hildeby.
Most recently, in Monday’s 5-1 win in Philadelphia, Crosby scored on a rebound of Bryan Rust’s shot to open the scoring. He then got his second of the game, with Rust setting him up again.
Driving to the net, Rust, rather than shooting with goaltender Dan Vladar squared up on him, sent a rocket of a backhander out to Crosby in the slot. He threaded the puck through a crowded low slot.
“Rusty’s pass on the second goal was one I almost wasn’t ready for just because he sold that he was going to walk in and shoot,” Crosby said, adding that he has to “stay ready all the time.”
“Especially around the net, you’ve got to keep your stick on the ice and be focused on finding the puck,” he said. “There’s a lot of bounces, and you don’t have a lot of time in those small areas to get your stick on the puck if you’re battling. I think you’re just trying to get away from your check and then find the puck as fast as you can.”
And that’s often a product of going to, or being around, the net.
“That’s where I typically look to score goals,” Crosby said. “I’m not firing one-timers every night.”
Tags: Bryan Rust Kris Letang Pittsburgh Penguins Shelly Anderson Sidney Crosby tommy novak
Categorized: Pittsburgh Penguins