Better injury happened now than later

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Peter Diana / Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby grimaces after crashing into the boards in the first period, Crosby left the game with a high ankle sprain.

What with the Penguins already besieged by injuries and much of their recent success based on the unexpectedly good play of a journeyman goaltender whose new-found excellence could evaporate any day, there wouldn't figure to be a worse time to lose Sidney Crosby for six to eight weeks.

Wrong.

Had Crosby sustained his high ankle sprain March 16 instead of Jan. 16, the Penguins would have been in far worse straits. Had Crosby's injury occurred at a point where he would miss a round or more of playoff competition, the Penguins would be in trouble. A player of Crosby's caliber missing time in the regular season is serious, but it has nowhere near the consequences of missing time in the postseason.

The NHL regular season isn't meaningless, just almost so. The league plays 82 games to eliminate 14 of its 30 teams. Fans are in a dither about whether the team is in first or second place when it really doesn't mean that much. It's about finishing in the top eight in the conference, not finishing first in the division.

The Penguins are among the best eight in the Eastern Conference even with their best player missing more than a quarter of the regular season.

Crosby will be back for the final weeks, which should be enough time for him to rally his teammates, if, in fact, that's what they need. Once in the playoffs, the Penguins will have not only the best player in the league, but also one who will be playing at an even higher level than usual because of his reduced regular-season work load.

This is not to suggest the absence of Crosby is a blessing. It's not. It's a critical loss. But it's one that can be overcome. Had the injury occurred later in the season, his loss would have been insurmountable.



Peter Diana / Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby is taken down by the Lightning's Paul Ranger before crashing in to the boards in the first period. Crosby left the game with a high ankle sprain.

When Crosby walked into the media lounge at Mellon Arena yesterday to answer the obvious questions, the Penguins were in first place in the Atlantic Division, but also two points removed from fourth place. No team has been able to dominate the Atlantic, and that plays in the Penguins' favor. It's essential to have this delicate balance of power remain in place.

In the two games Crosby already has missed, the Penguins have registered three of a possible four points. No one should take that as a sign of things to come. In the immediate aftermath of monumental injuries, emotions can sometimes play a larger role than usual. When the full impact of their situation is more clear to the Penguins, their play will decline. It has to. A team can't lose its best player and not suffer the consequences.

The Penguins have flouted that conventional wisdom in the case of Marc-Andre Fleury, their best goaltender, who had a high ankle sprain Dec. 6. The belief was that if they could just hang close until Fleury returned, they'd be in good shape. They've done more than that, winning 14 of 21 and advancing in the standings.

But Crosby is different from Fleury. He is not replaceable. It's possible Evgeni Malkin will rise to the occasion and play as well as Crosby had been playing. Malkin gave signs of doing that in the Penguins' 6-5 loss Monday to Washington. But if Malkin replaces Crosby, who replaces Malkin?

What the Penguins have to worry about over the next six to eight weeks is not Crosby's ankle so much as the psyche of Ty Conklin, the man who has superbly replaced Fleury. In 14 games, Conklin has a 1.82 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. If he had played enough games, he would lead the NHL in both categories.

It's a radical departure for Conklin, whose goals-against average in 76 previous NHL games dating to the 2001-02 season was 2.65 and whose save percentage was about .905. In those previous 76 games, Conklin had two shutouts. In his 14 games with the Penguins, he already has had two more.

He's either playing way over his head and could implode at any time or at age 31 has finally found himself. The former makes more sense, but for the sake of the Penguins we can only hope it's the latter.

If in the next six to eight weeks Conklin plays even close to his current level or if Dany Sabourin can pick up part of the load, the Penguins will be fine. If they're even close to a playoff spot when Crosby returns, his play and the emotional lift the team will receive will be more than enough to carry the day.

Once in the playoffs, regardless of who has home-ice advantage, the Penguins will be a formidable opponent for any team and should build on the experience they gained last season.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
First published on January 23, 2008 at 12:00 am