By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Sidney Crosby knew going in that he couldn't do the impossible.
That no matter what he accomplished in the Penguins' final regular-season game, he couldn't make them win the Atlantic Division title, or raise them above the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
So he settled for trying to pull off the utterly improbable -- and almost made it happen.
Kathy Kmonicek/Associated PressSidney Crosby scored two goals, his 50th and 51st, in the Penguins' overtime victory Sunday.
Things didn't quite work out the way he hoped -- his five-point effort in the Penguins' 6-5 overtime victory against the New York Islanders Sunday evening at Nassau Coliseum wasn't quite enough to overtake Vancouver's Henrik Sedin in the NHL scoring race -- but he got a nice consolation prize: A share of the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top-goal scorer.
Crosby scored two goals against New York to run his total to 51, and came within 13 seconds of having the Richard to himself. Steve Stamkos of Tampa Bay, however, hit an empty net as time was winding down in the Lightning's 3-1 victory at Florida to match Crosby's output.
"I never was one for ties, but I'll accept a tie, I guess," Crosby said. "It's not easy to score in this league, at all. Steven had a great season."
And if Crosby was upset that Stamkos caught him with an empty-netter, he wasn't letting on.
"It doesn't make it any easier [to accept], but they all count," he said. "That's the way it is."
Crosby is the eighth Penguin to score 50 or more goals in a season, and the first to win the Richard since it was introduced in 1999.
Word of Stamkos' goal made it from the press box to the Penguins' bench early in the third period, and coach Dan Bylsma tried to get Crosby into positions where he could get No. 52 as regulation wound down.
"We were definitely trying to get him in a situation where he'd be able to try to get that goal," he said.
It didn't work out, though, and the Penguins' final goal -- the only one in which Crosby did not play a part -- was scored by defenseman Jordan Leopold with 34.4 seconds left in overtime.
That goal spared the Penguins the embarrassment of losing a game in which they had a 5-2 lead against a non-playoff team with less than 16 minutes left in regulation.
"That's what happens if you kind of take your foot off the gas in this league," said right winger Eric Godard, who scored the Penguins' second goal. It almost was predictable that would happen given that neither team had anything of consequence at stake.
"At least in the first half [of the game], our intentions were good," Crosby said. "Once we got the lead, I think it's just human nature to let up like that."
The victory gave the Penguins a 47-28-7 record and 101 points, tying the fifth-highest total in franchise history.
They finished second in the Atlantic, two points behind New Jersey, and will face Ottawa in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Game 1 is 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mellon Arena.
"We're going to get tested by a good team," Bylsma said. "We're going to get put under pressure and we need to be able to get to our game playing against a good team."
The Penguins played Sunday without their top three left wingers -- Chris Kunitz, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Cooke -- but expect to have all three for the playoffs.
Ponikarovsky, who finished serving a two-game suspension, definitely will be back, while Kunitz (shoulder) and Cooke (head) seem likely to play. Tests showed that Cooke, who was hurt in a fight with Atlanta's Evander Kane Saturday, does not have a concussion, although Bylsma said he will undergo further examinations this week.
While the Penguins are fairly healthy heading into the playoffs -- "That's the biggest thing, moving forward," Orpik said -- there are a few things over which Bylsma and his staff can fret before the Ottawa series starts.
The work of his team's captain isn't one of them, though. Not after they watched Crosby put up five points in the first 31-plus minutes of the game, and seemed like a genuine threat to overtake Sedin.
"Given his point-per-minutes in the first half of the game, yes, it did dawn on me that, not for mortals, but he was within striking range," Bylsma said. "He was on a mission."
Come Wednesday, Crosby will lead his teammates on an even bigger one.
For more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Dave Molinari: dmolinari@post-gazette.com.
Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
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