Penguins' Crosby scores winning goal, assists on another

Monday, April 19, 2010
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/


Phillip MacCallum/Associated Press

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury makes a save against the Senators in the third period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal Sunday at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Sidney Crosby won 11 faceoffs during the Penguins' 4-2 victory against Ottawa at Scotiabank Place Sunday night.

It only took one to show just how ready he was to play.

Crosby handled the opening draw against Jason Spezza, and pulled it cleanly back to teammate Kris Letang. That was the first indication of how focused and committed Crosby was; it was nowhere near the last.

By the time the evening had ended, Crosby had scored the game-winning goal and assisted on another, gone 11-5 on faceoffs -- making him the only Penguin to do better than break even on draws -- and been credited with three hits and an equal number of takeaways.

He spend 19 minutes and 49 seconds on the ice, and looked to be downright possessed for all but a nanosecond or two of that total.

"A lot of guys have drive, a lot of guys want to win," linemate Bill Guerin said. "With his drive and will, plus his talent, his physical makeup -- all that stuff -- it makes something pretty special."

Indeed, while Crosby might not have willed the Penguins to a 2-1 lead in their opening-round playoff series against Ottawa, which will resume with Game 4 at Scotiabank Place 7:08 p.m. Tuesday, he certainly has led them there.

"He's unbelievable," center Jordan Staal said. "He works so hard, and has such a mean drive. It's scary sometimes."

It surely has to be for the Senators, a stingy, well-coached defensive team that Crosby has torched for seven points in three games.

And while Crosby's assist on Letang's game-winning goal in Game 2 might go down as his signature play of the series, the one he made to score the Penguins' third goal Sunday night isn't far behind.

He got the puck in the right corner of the Ottawa end, then battled his way to the inner edge of the left circle -- with his skates pointing in completely opposite directions for part of the time -- before flipping a shot by Senators goalie Brian Elliott.

"I just tried to take it across the net, and was able to hold onto it for a little bit and find an opening," Crosby said.

OK, but it looked a whole lot more impressive than he made it sound.

"It was pretty nice, the way he exploded out of that corner and took it to the net," Staal said. "I didn't know he was that fast. I know he's fast, but he came out of that corner so hard."

The Penguins played without defenseman Jordan Leopold, who got a head injury in Game 2, but veteran Jay McKee filled in capably. He was paired with Alex Goligoski and logged 13 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time, blocking two shots and recording a plus-2 plus-minus rating.

"I felt good, real good," McKee said. "It was a nice feeling to get back out there."

For the second game in a row, the first shot of the evening produced a goal. This time, though, it was the Penguins who got it.

Left winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, who had just one goal in his previous 17 games, gave them a 1-0 lead 77 seconds into the game by putting a wrist shot between Elliott's legs from below the right dot.

"The goalie was paying more attention to who was coming (toward the net)," Ponikarovsky said. "I just surprised him with a quick shot."

Mike Fisher pulled Ottawa even with a power-play goal at 1:53 of the second -- the Senators' first score in 81 minutes, 35 seconds -- but Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins in front to stay by converting a Max Talbot rebound at 5:57.

Crosby expanded the Penguins' comfort zone with his sensational effort late in the second, and Guerin put the game out of reach when he scored on a breakaway at 4:27 of of the third. The power-play goal Matt Cullen got for Ottawa at 12:58 damaged only goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's statistics.

And so the Penguins reclaimed home-ice advantage in the series, and saw yet again just how devoted their captain is to succeeding every time he steps onto the ice.

"It's a challenge every night in the playoffs," Crosby said. "There's not a lot of space. It's important that you come ready to compete."

He does. And it's become impossible to not notice.


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