Sidney Crosby comes back to life as the Penguins trample Florida again

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff projectionsNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterSidney Crosby comes back to life as the Penguins trample Florida againSidney Crosby has five points in two games, including a goal and two assists Sunday. Mark Alberti / Imagn Images Share full article13PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins entered Sunday’s game against the Florida Panthers having scored a very impressive 73 goals in their previous 17 games. Somewhat remarkably, Sidney Crosby was only responsible for one of those goals, as the captain has missed 12 contests due to injury and has otherwise been a little off his game. That all started to change over the weekend. Crosby followed Saturday’s two-point performance by producing a goal and two assists as the Penguins had little trouble in disposing of the exhausted and wounded defending champs in a 5-2 victory on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. The win moves the Penguins very close to clinching a postseason berth for the first time since 2022. Crosby, given his time missed, will play a maximum of 70 games this season. Given his three-point outing, he now has 72 points for the season, assuring the living legend of a better-than-point-per-game scoring average for a 21st consecutive season. In classic Crosby fashion, he downplayed the accomplishment. “It’s a stat,” he said. “It speaks to the teams that we’ve had, the players that I’ve had the opportunity to play with. That’s a big part of it. It’s a stat. You try to be consistent. Like I said, I’ve played with some great teams and some great players.” There’s also no denying that finishing with a point per game or better in 21 consecutive NHL seasons is a remarkable achievement. Something that started as a teenager has continued all these years for Crosby, who is now four months shy of his 39th birthday. His head coach preferred to direct the spotlight on Crosby. “When (hockey fans) look back, there’s going to be a lot to look back on,” coach Dan Muse said. “(This record) will be one of those things. At this point of the year, and I’ve been around this organization for a little bit, I really hope nobody is taking this for granted. The fans. Media. Everybody in the community. To be able to see this firsthand, it’s amazing. Twenty-one seasons. A point per game. NHL record, and that’s a big one. “You think about how much goes into it. I’m not just talking about hockey. I’m talking about all sports. People to be able to do it for that long, it doesn’t happen. And so, yeah, it’s amazing. He seems to have a lot left in the tank.” It’s funny that with the postseason less than two weeks away, Crosby suddenly found his form this weekend. He has been salivating for the playoffs ever since the Penguins were last involved. And the team he loves to beat the most might well be waiting for the Penguins, as the Philadelphia Flyers have suddenly positioned themselves in third place in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind the Penguins. While Crosby had five points this weekend, Evgeni Malkin had six. The dynamic duo still appears to be going pretty strong. “(We’re) playing with a great group of guys for an organization that we care an awful lot about,” Crosby said of their time in Pittsburgh. “Still getting opportunities to play big roles. That doesn’t always happen as you get older. There’s a responsibility that comes with that, and trust, and belief. And then just having a passion for the game. We still love it after all of these years. We still want to contribute and try to win.” They’ll almost certainly get their chance when the playoffs arrive. Along with Crosby’s goal, Rickard Rakell scored twice while Bryan Rust and Elmer Söderblom added goals. Artūrs Šilovs got the start because of an eye injury to Stuart Skinner and earned his second win of the weekend. The Penguins now get three days off before playing on Thursday night in New Jersey. • It’s one thing that Crosby put up five points this weekend, and I’m not diminishing the importance of his productivity. But what I noticed more than anything was that Crosby appears to have his legs. He was using his speed to beat players in a way that we haven’t seen since he returned from his most recent injury on Monday in New York. The Penguins played very well on Monday and Tuesday against the Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, respectively, but Crosby didn’t look like himself in those games. And he most certainly didn’t look like himself against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. A different, and I suspect healthy, version of Crosby emerged over the weekend against Florida. He looked stronger on his skates and he looked a step faster. • Crosby passed Steve Yzerman on Saturday to slide into seventh on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. “It’s special,” he said Sunday. “Growing up, watching him and admiring his game and his character, you don’t ever think far ahead, of thinking you’re going to be in the same company. That one was pretty special.” Crosby grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, but he always idolized Yzerman. Hearing Crosby speak of such reverence for all-time greats like Yzerman is always interesting to me because Crosby himself is an all-time great, yet has the capacity to sound like a fan when he speaks of other hockey all-timers. • The goaltending situation is worth mentioning. Skinner was supposed to get the start on Sunday. However, he was injured on Saturday when a puck went into the Penguins bench area and struck him around his left eye. The goaltender watched in the press box on Sunday and has a pretty nice shiner. It’s unclear if there is additional damage to the eye or if it was merely a matter of his eye being too swollen to open. The Penguins attempted to get Sergei Murashov to Pittsburgh on Sunday morning, but the ride from Wilkes-Barre was too long to get the Penguins’ top goalie prospect to PPG Paints Arena in time for the game. Instead, they managed to get Taylor Gauthier, the Wheeling Nailers’ goaltender, to Pittsburgh in time for the contest. Gauthier served as the backup in his first NHL game. Muse didn’t offer any specifics on Skinner. The Penguins don’t practice until Tuesday, so we probably won’t have information until then. If Skinner isn’t available on Thursday, look for Murashov, who was in the locker room after the game, to be in uniform. • Skinner is a legitimately wonderful teammate. He approached Šilovs in the locker room after the game, hugged him, told him he played great and that he appreciated him playing on consecutive days. It’s easy to see why Skinner is one of the most well-liked players in hockey. He’s fit into the locker room exceedingly well. • Credit to Šilovs: He wasn’t good on Saturday and has struggled lately. Šilovs also allowed a goal in the first period that clanged off his mask before somehow going between his legs. His confidence couldn’t have been real high at the moment. But then he settled down and played a very strong game. I think that says something about his mental toughness. • Rust notched his 500th career point. As I always say, he’s an all-time important member of the Penguins and he doesn’t wear a letter on his chest, but he doesn’t have to. He’s a true leader and quite a hockey player. • Rakell scored two more goals and has 11 in his past 10 games, all while playing out of position at center and dealing with Crosby and Malkin being in and out of the lineup. He’s a huge, huge part of the Penguins. • I was talking with a veteran in the locker room about Egor Chinakhov, who didn’t score a goal today but was outstanding again. He told me Penguins players have had conversations amongst themselves, trying to figure out why on earth Columbus traded the budding 25-year-old star to the Penguins. To a man, the locker room absolutely thinks Chinakhov is special. • Parker Wotherspoon dropped the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk and went toe-to-toe with the Florida star all afternoon. It was great theater. Wotherspon isn’t only a good player, he’s tough as nails. • The metrics now tell us the Penguins’ most likely playoff opponent in two weeks will be the Flyers. It’s hardly set in stone, of course. So many things could still happen. But wouldn’t it be fitting for Crosby to get back to the postseason for the first time in four years with the team he loves to torture the most waiting in the first round? There is nothing quite like the theater and hatred that comes when the Penguins and Flyers share a sheet of ice. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Josh Yohe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh joined The Athletic in 2017 after covering the Penguins for a decade, first for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and then for DKPittsburghSports.com. Follow Josh on Twitter @JoshYohe_PGH