By Chris Bradford
May 17, 2013
Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) gets past Ottawa Senators' Erik Karlsson (65) en route to a goal in the first period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series, in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 17, 2013. Photo: Gene J. Puskar (AP)
PITTSBURGH – Though it was over four years in the making, no one was surprised by Sidney Crosby’s latest exploits. Least of all his Penguins teammates.
The captain recorded a hat trick in the game’s first 22 minutes as the Penguins scored a 4-3 win over Ottawa on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series. It was Crosby’s first three-goal game since May 4, 2009 against Washington.
“It’s always nice to score, nice to get a hat trick but it always makes it better when you win,” said Crosby, whose last playoff hat trick came in a loss.
Crosby became the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to record 100 points, doing so in his 75th postseason game. The four players to do so in less time are named Messrs. Gretzky, Lemieux, Kurri and Bossy.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma labeled it Crosby’s best performance to date in the postseason.
“He’s done a lot in a lot of different games in a lot of different areas, but tonight it was his best,” said Bylsma.
Tomas Vokoun, making his fourth straight start, stopped 19 of 22 shots, including a few spectacular ones including a toe stop on Corey Conacher in the second period.
On the other end, Ottawa’s Craig Anderson was replaced by Robin Lehner after Crosby’s third goal, the Penguins’ 21st shot. In total, the Penguins out-shot Ottawa by a wide margin 42-22. It was the first time this season the Senators have pulled their goalie due to poor performance.
Brenden Morrow scored his first goal of the postseason and defensemen Paul Martin and Kris Letang added two assists each for the Penguins, who will take on Ottawa at Scotiabank Place on Sunday night. But as glad as they are to have seized momentum in this series, they’re more satisfied with how they’ve done it.
“We feel better about ourselves playing the right way,” Letang said.
NOTABLE
* The victory marks the first time that the Penguins have won four consecutive playoff games since they won five straight May 13-26, 2009. They have now gone 10-2 in their last 12 playoff games against the Senators.
* The Penguins posted 18 shots during the first period, which is tied for the most in a single period of a postseason game in franchise history.
* The Penguins have scored goals in 20 of the 26 periods that they have played this postseason, including five of the six played against the Senators.
* The Penguins are the highest-scoring team in the postseason, scoring 33 goals (4.13 per game). They’ve scored four or more goals in seven of eight games this spring and in 13 of 14 dating back to last season. They have scored three-or-more goals in eight straight postseason games played on home ice.
* Penguins’ opponents have changed goaltenders mid-game three times over their eight postseason games this season.
* C Sidney Crosby moved into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time postseason scoring list with his second of three goals on the night, giving him 102 points.
* Crosby becomes the second Penguin to notch multiple postseason hat tricks, joining Mario Lemieux (three) on the list.
* D Paul Martin extended his scoring streak to four games with two assists, which is the longest streak of his career. He has also set a new career high for postseason points with nine points (two goals).
* C Evgeni Malkin tied Kevin Stevens for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time postseason scoring list with 60 points when he notched an assist on Crosby’s third goal. Malkin became just the fourth player in NHL history to record at least one assist in each of his team’s first eight playoff games. He currently leads the league with 11 assists and is tied with Boston’s David Krejci in points with 14.
* D Kris Letang’s two assists give him his third multiple-point game of the postseason and at least one point in six of the Penguins eight postseason games.
* RW Jarome Iginla, who saw his seven-game scoring streak snapped, posted a game-high eight shots on goal.
* With the victory, G Tomas Vokoun ties Greg Millen and Frank Pietrangelo for eighth place on the franchise’s all-time playoff win list with four. Vokoun has now gone 14-1 over his last 16 starts dating back to March 2.
* The Penguins pushed their sellout record to 283 games with 18,645 in attendance.
Times Hockey Correspondent Brian Metzer contributed to this report
HIDDEN STAT
12: Career postseason goals D Kris Letang – second most in franchise history for a defenseman behind only Larry Murphy (15). The Penguins have gotten 26 points from their defensemen over their first eight playoff games, which ranks them first in the league in the category.
KEY PLAY
The Penguins started the first period the way they ended Game 1 and were all over the Senators notching 18 shots in the frame. Sidney Crosby was a huge reason why they had the Senators on their heels and he opened the scoring at 3:16 in spectacular fashion. The captain took a pass at his own blue line from D Paul Martin and came through the neutral zone with speed, sending a buzz through the capacity crowd. Crosby stick-handled through three Senators, including Erik Karlsson, before breaking into the clear as he burst down the left wing boards. He took several strides before lashing a wrist shot that beat G Craig Anderson to the far side. The goal was Crosby’s first of three on the night. Though the Senators clawed back, the Penguins would hold on for a 4-3 victory. “He has so many assets and things that make him great, but a big one is that he can do everything at top speed,” Jarome Iginla said about Crosby. “There’s lots of guys who can skate really fast without the puck, but he doesn’t slow down with the puck at all.”
QUOTABLE
“I don’t get many from farther out. Just go to the net and when you’re working hard, sometimes good things happen and you get bounces and that happened for me tonight.”
LW Brenden Morrow when asked about the familiar spot in which he scored his game-winning-goal.
THREE STARS
1. Sidney Crosby, Pit.
2. Kris Letang, Pit.
3. Colin Greening, Ott.
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