Showing posts with label Sidney Crosby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sidney Crosby. Show all posts
Saturday, September 07, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
ESPN names Sidney Crosby NHL all-decade MVP
By Joshua Axelrod
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2019/08/20/ESPN-Sidney-Crosby-MVP-NHL-decade-Malkin-Kunitz-Kessel-Letang-Fleury/stories/201908200155
August 20, 2019
(Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
Here’s some fuel for the next time you’re arguing with a Capitals fan over whether Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin is better.
ESPN on Tuesday gave Crosby the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP of the last decade. It was one of several accolades the three-time Stanley Cup champion received from the worldwide leader as part of its all-decade awards.
Crosby beat out runner-ups Ovechkin and Blackhawks wing Patrick Kane to take home all-decade top honors. As ESPN’s Emily Kaplan pointed out, Crosby has accumulated the most points (922) of any player since 2009-10 and is averaging the second-most points per game — 1.26, only trailing Oilers center Connor McDavid’s much smaller sample size of 1.30 — of anyone this decade.
She also brought up the fact Ovechkin has 100 more goals than any other player over the last decade, but Crosby’s overall numbers and championship resume earned him the all-decade MVP win.
Click on the article below to read the rest of the article:
Thursday, August 08, 2019
In rare podcast appearance, Penguins’ Sidney Crosby tells shaggy dog story
By Jonathan Bombulie
August 7, 2019
By the time he was 18, Sidney Crosby was already a world-class NHL player.
A world-class pet owner? Not as much.
During an appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, a Barstool Sports production hosted by former Pittsburgh Penguins players Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney, Crosby told a story from his first pro season when he lived with Mario Lemieux and his family.
They convinced him to get a dog.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know if I need a dog right now,’” Crosby said. “I can barely do my own laundry.”
One night, returning home after a game, his nose let him know something had gone wrong while he was at work.
“I come back after the game and I smell something. I’m like, ‘What is that?’” Crosby said. “The puppy definitely (pooped) somewhere in the house. I’ve got to find out where this is.
“So I’m like looking everywhere, all over the house. Finally, I come around the corner and he’s cleaning up all this (poop) everywhere in the kitchen. I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’m so embarrassed.’ Mario Lemieux’s cleaning up my dog (poop). This is so backwards. This should not be happening.”
Crosby still has the dog, he noted.
“Fourteen-year-old Sam,” Crosby said.
Crosby is one of the most interviewed athletes in all of sports, but a long-form appearance on a podcast was rare. Bissonnette and Whitney, as friends and former teammates, got him to open up on a variety of topics.
He discussed his reaction to the Penguins winning the draft lottery, his rivalry with Alex Ovechkin, being injured during Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final, his relationship with Marc-Andre Fleury and his confrontation with P.K. Subban during the 2017 finals.
During a rare moment of actual hockey conversation, Crosby revealed the one part of his game he’s working the hardest on as he gets older.
“Speed,” Crosby said. “That’s just part of getting older is you slow down a little bit. You’ve just got to slow that curve.”
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan by email atjbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
10 years after 1st Cup, expectations change for Crosby, Malkin
By Tim Benz
https://triblive.com/sports/tim-benz-10-years-after-1st-cup-expectations-change-for-crosby-malkin/
June 12. 2019
(AP)
Penguins fans have had a lot of fun anniversaries to celebrate lately.
• The 35th anniversary of drafting Mario Lemieux was Sunday.
• The end of this season marked the 30th anniversary of Lemieux’s 199-pointcampaign in 1989.
• Today is the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Stanley Cup championship victory in Detroit.
Fair warning. Your heart may jump at roughly the 8:27 mark of that video. Relax, though. Marc-Andre Fleury still makes the save.
I remember walking down from the press box to ice level that night and having a sense of relief for the franchise.
Because whatever was going to happen over the next 10, or 15, or 20 years of the Crosby-Malkin era, at least it reached its ultimate goal.
And fast, too. It took just three years of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin playing together in Pittsburgh before hoisting a banner. The eventual championship we all assumed when the duo first hit the ice together in October 2006 was quickly fulfilled.
These Penguins wouldn’t have to wait until Detroit’s dynasty was dismantled. Crosby and Malkin wouldn’t be like John Stockton and Karl Malone in Utah — a legendary pair that simply couldn’t get over the top.
The team wouldn’t be the Bills of the ’90s — or the Pirates or the Steelers of the ’90s, for that matter.
They ended a 17-year Stanley Cup drought in Pittsburgh. Whatever happened next, the Crosby-Malkin era was going to be worth it because they were champs.
At least once.
But, I mean, there were going to be more. Right? If the two-headed monster got one Stanley Cup before either player was older than 22, they were going to win at least three or four more together.
At least!
By the time I arrived on Joe Louis Arena’s ice surface that night, that idea was the exact thought in my mind. It took me all of three minutes to go from “What a payoff!” to “How many more can we expect?”
I wasn’t alone. A lot of Penguins fans assumed the same thing. That’s what made the next seven years so frustrating. Crosby and Malkin were surrounded by so many good players for so long, yet they kept losing to lesser teams in the playoffs.
They kept on getting injured. Melting down emotionally. Blowing playoff series leads.
Thankfully, though, there are now more anniversaries to add to that list. Like another one today for the 2016 Cup team, and the one yesterday for the 2017 championship.
Now the era truly has been fulfilled. Without a doubt. Wallow in those memories. Because technically, the Penguins are as far away from a Cup as they have ever been since No. 87 and No. 71 first began skating together. This is the first year in their partnership that the Penguins couldn’t boast at least one playoff victory.
Even when they got bounced in previous first rounds in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2015, they at least won a game.
Not this year. And a team that the coach and general manager openly wanted to rearrange back in April may return nearly the same in October because of some onerous contracts that are too difficult to move.
Was it unfair to assume that Crosby and Malkin had multiple championships in them after 2009? I don’t think so. With those two phenomenal talents and the vast assembly of young skill surrounding them in that locker room, you could see it.
You could feel it. They’d get at least one more.
It was a more circuitous route to get back there than I expected. But they did it.
Twice.
And with very few of the complementary parts from the ‘09 team still around them. However, it would be unfair to assume a fourth title for the tandem.
Expecting two or three rings out of Malkin and Crosby when they were in their early 20s may have been greedy. Assuming a fourth now that they are both in their early 30s, like many other mainstays on the team, would be stupid.
Let’s avoid assuming, then. That’s different than doubting, mind you. Because I won’t rule out another championship.
The Penguins have six men on their roster for next season over 30. The Bruins have eight between 31 and 42 right now. They might win the Cup against St. Louis Wednesday in their Game 7.
So maybe these Penguins can reboot, retool and squeeze out another parade. Crosby and Malkin are still special. They are still coming off a 100-point season as a team.
But 10 years changes a lot of things. Perspective, for one.
Expectations, for another.
But not appreciation for what they’ve accomplished. That should always stay the same.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or viaTwitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Categories: Sports | Penguins | Tim Benz Breakfast With
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
CROSBY, KUCHEROV AND MCDAVID FINISH TOP-THREE IN HART VOTING – WHO WINS AND WHO WAS SNUBBED?
By
April 29, 2019
Get ready for another debate about the importance of the playoffs.
On Sunday, the NHL announced that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid have been voted as the top-three for the Hart Trophy, presented annually “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.” As it has been in recent years, though, how to measure such value is going to be argued to such a length that you might consider making like Vincent van Gogh and slicing off your ear, at which point you’ll surely realize earplugs would have been more effective.
The reason for that, of course, has little to do with Crosby’s or Kucherov’s candidacy. The former led his team in scoring and propelled Pittsburgh to the post-season. The latter won the Art Ross Trophy and set a post-lockout era record for single-season scoring. McDavid, however, failed to get his team within so much as a whiff of the playoffs despite his personal offensive successes, and therein lies the problem. Some believe a player’s performance during the regular season is rendered moot if his team doesn’t make the playoffs. Others are of the mind that value, particularly in a team sport that hardly allows for a single skater to influence the overall performance of an organization, cannot be weighted on a playoffs-or-bust scale.
On which side of the debate you fall is for you and you alone to determine. But with that said, we present to you the Hart cases for Crosby, Kucherov and McDavid:
THE CASE FOR CROSBY
In the past, and by that we mean the early years of his career, Crosby was a perennial Hart candidate whose candidacy largely centered on his offensive ability. From his rookie season on through to his 2013-14 Hart victory, Crosby was, when healthy, among the league’s top scorers, winning the Art Ross twice, the Rocket Richard Trophy once and earning the Ted Lindsay/Lester B. Pearson Award three times. It has been five years, however, since Crosby’s last Hart victory, and though he’s added another Rocket, two Conn Smythe Trophies, two Stanley Cups and finished second in MVP voting twice, the spot on his mantle reserved for a third Hart hasn’t been filled.
In the past, and by that we mean the early years of his career, Crosby was a perennial Hart candidate whose candidacy largely centered on his offensive ability. From his rookie season on through to his 2013-14 Hart victory, Crosby was, when healthy, among the league’s top scorers, winning the Art Ross twice, the Rocket Richard Trophy once and earning the Ted Lindsay/Lester B. Pearson Award three times. It has been five years, however, since Crosby’s last Hart victory, and though he’s added another Rocket, two Conn Smythe Trophies, two Stanley Cups and finished second in MVP voting twice, the spot on his mantle reserved for a third Hart hasn’t been filled.
Offensively, his case to change that is cut and dried. His 35 goals and 100 points were among the best totals of any player, marks that saw Crosby tie for 22nd and fifth, respectively. He also led the Penguins in scoring by a wide margin, as he finished 18 points clear of Pittsburgh’s next-highest scorer, Phil Kessel, who ended the season with 82 points. By doing so, Crosby powered the Penguins’ offense, especially through some difficult times earlier in the campaign and helped keep the NHL’s longest active streak of post-season appearances alive.
Unlike those early years, though, offense isn’t the primary reason Crosby finds himself in the Hart conversation, and what likely cemented Crosby’s place in the top-three in voting was his two-way play, as the Penguins captain turned in a season that was worth Selke Trophy consideration. Some will even assert that Crosby’s absence from the top-three in voting for the defensive forward award was one of the biggest snubs of awards season. He finished with the best 5-on-5 goals for percentage, 65.6, of any 1,000-minute player in the NHL, possessing among the best scoring chance and high-danger rates of any skater at 5-on-5, not to mention possession rates that were leaps and bounds ahead of those of his teammates.
The value Crosby provided at both ends of the ice was unparalleled this season, even by those who finished atop the Selke race. He was the most impactful two-way player in the NHL.
THE CASE FOR KUCHEROV
No one could catch Kucherov in the Art Ross race. As outlined in our breakdown of the top-three in Lindsay voting, Kucherov worked his way to the top of the scoring race shortly after the holiday break – Dec. 27, to be exact – and didn’t relinquish first place for the remainder of the season. All told, he topped the scoring race for nearly 55 percent of the campaign, and he did so without a single hiccup once he moved to the head of the pack. He led the league in scoring with 128 points, the most of any player in the entire post-lockout era, and paired his overall scoring success with 41 goals, which tied for the sixth-most in the NHL.
No one could catch Kucherov in the Art Ross race. As outlined in our breakdown of the top-three in Lindsay voting, Kucherov worked his way to the top of the scoring race shortly after the holiday break – Dec. 27, to be exact – and didn’t relinquish first place for the remainder of the season. All told, he topped the scoring race for nearly 55 percent of the campaign, and he did so without a single hiccup once he moved to the head of the pack. He led the league in scoring with 128 points, the most of any player in the entire post-lockout era, and paired his overall scoring success with 41 goals, which tied for the sixth-most in the NHL.
Contextualization of his output gives him the best shot at winning, though, as Kucherov paced the most lethal attack the league has seen in the current era and was a centerpiece on one of the greatest regular season teams in NHL history. Tampa Bay led the NHL with 319 goals, the most of any team since the 1995-95 season, and the Lightning’s 62 wins matched the record for most in a single season, finishing even with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. (Coincidentally, neither team won the Stanley Cup.)
One has to reach to find knocks against Kucherov, too. For example, it could be said that his offense was undoubtedly boosted by playing on a team that was so offensively overwhelming. He spent the majority of his ice time with Brayden Point, who scored 41 goals and 92 points this season. Kucherov also saw a lot of minutes with Steven Stamkos, who scored 45 goals and 98 points this season. And given Kucherov led the league in non-primary points – he had 34 secondary assists – there was some inflation of his point total, and he actually finished second in primary scoring behind McDavid. The other argument would be that Kucherov’s five-a-side scoring was only modestly better than others. He finished with 69 points at 5-on-5, only three better than Kane, five better than McDavid and eight better than Crosby. And when scoring is limited to primary points, Kucherov’s 50 tie for fourth with Crosby, with the Bolts star staring up at Kane (51), McDavid (52) and Mitch Marner (52).
THE CASE FOR McDAVID
No player had a greater offensive impact on his team this season than McDavid, and the numbers back it up. Beginning with his base statistics, the Oilers captain finished tied for sixth in the NHL with 41 goals and ended the campaign second in scoring with 116 points. His 33 power play points tied for 12th in the NHL, he had another two shorthanded points and only Kessel scored more game-winning goals than McDavid, whose nine tied for second with Brad Marchand and Gabriel Landeskog. Furthermore, McDavid’s 22:50 ice time average was tops among all forwards, which highlights how heavily Edmonton leaned on their superstar.
No player had a greater offensive impact on his team this season than McDavid, and the numbers back it up. Beginning with his base statistics, the Oilers captain finished tied for sixth in the NHL with 41 goals and ended the campaign second in scoring with 116 points. His 33 power play points tied for 12th in the NHL, he had another two shorthanded points and only Kessel scored more game-winning goals than McDavid, whose nine tied for second with Brad Marchand and Gabriel Landeskog. Furthermore, McDavid’s 22:50 ice time average was tops among all forwards, which highlights how heavily Edmonton leaned on their superstar.
But as with his case for the Lindsay, the best argument for McDavid to win the Hart comes by way of a look at the percentage of the Oilers’ offense that came from No. 97, because it’s quite frankly jarring.
Of the 229 goals the Oilers scored this season, McDavid’s 41-tally campaign means he was the triggerman for 17.9 percent of Edmonton’s goals, which ranks fourth among all players. Furthermore, McDavid had a point on 50.7 percent of the Oilers’ goals this season, which gives him the greatest share of points-to-team goals of any player in the league, nearly five percent clear of teammate Leon Draisaitl, who finished second, and nine percent higher than Patrick Kane, who finished third. If that’s not enough, though, it should be said that McDavid led the league with 98 primary points. He was a one-man attack, and when you exclude secondary points, McDavid was either the one scoring or directly setting up 42.8 of Edmonton’s goals this season. That’s not only tops in the NHL, it’s an absolutely absurd level of individual contribution.
It’s the case against McDavid that will get more press leading up to the awards ceremony, though. Despite his offensive output, the Oilers finished 11 points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and the crowd that weights a post-season appearance heavily will likely have McDavid far enough down their ballot that he could be primed for a third-place finish in voting.
WHO WAS SNUBBED?
Patrick Kane was mentioned three times in the outlining of the cases for the top-three vote-getters, yet he did not finish in the top-three in voting. In all likelihood, voters made a choice when filling out their ballots that cost Kane his spot, and that choice was between the Chicago Blackhawks’ superstar and McDavid’s otherworldly performance. Who should have earned that final spot – assuming McDavid finishes third behind Crosby and Kucherov, who led their outfits to the post-season – is up for debate. McDavid had the individual output and team-based percentages, but Kane was up there in each category and helped Chicago stay in the playoff race until late in the season and the Blackhawks even snuck into a wild-card position briefly. It’s of little consequence, however. Neither McDavid or Kane is winning.
Patrick Kane was mentioned three times in the outlining of the cases for the top-three vote-getters, yet he did not finish in the top-three in voting. In all likelihood, voters made a choice when filling out their ballots that cost Kane his spot, and that choice was between the Chicago Blackhawks’ superstar and McDavid’s otherworldly performance. Who should have earned that final spot – assuming McDavid finishes third behind Crosby and Kucherov, who led their outfits to the post-season – is up for debate. McDavid had the individual output and team-based percentages, but Kane was up there in each category and helped Chicago stay in the playoff race until late in the season and the Blackhawks even snuck into a wild-card position briefly. It’s of little consequence, however. Neither McDavid or Kane is winning.
One can’t help but wonder how much consideration Nathan MacKinnon received, as well. His recent playoff performance puts him in the spotlight, so maybe recency bias is creeping in for what is ultimately a regular season award, but MacKinnon was spectacular for the Avalanche, who needed every ounce of his talent to squeak into the post-season. MacKinnon was awesome down the stretch, too, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in his final 21 games. And when it was really crunch time, MacKinnon churned out four goals and eight points in Colorado’s final seven games.
Finally – and knowing full well there are arguments for others to land on this list – how about some love for Mark Giordano? It’s been nearly 20 years since Chris Pronger won the Hart, his win in 1999-00 the most recent by a defenseman, but it feels like Calgary Flames captain Giordano should be up there in Hart voting. Say what you will for Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan or even Elias Lindholm, Giordano was the best blueliner in the NHL this season on a team that was among the best play-driving outfits, finished with the ninth-best goals-against total, second-best goals-for total and second-most points in the league.
Honorable mentions include Gaudreau, Point, Ryan O’Reilly, Robin Lehner and Ben Bishop. There’s a case for dozens of players, truly.
WHO WINS?
The Hart is Kucherov’s to lose. He has finished sixth and eighth in voting in the past two seasons, respectively, but his offensive output on a historically dominant team should put him ahead of the rest. The voting breakdown for this one will be especially interesting, however.
The Hart is Kucherov’s to lose. He has finished sixth and eighth in voting in the past two seasons, respectively, but his offensive output on a historically dominant team should put him ahead of the rest. The voting breakdown for this one will be especially interesting, however.
(All advanced statistics via NaturalStatTrick)
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Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Mat Barzal’s mindset ahead of his Sidney Crosby showdown
By Brett Cyrgalis
https://nypost.com/2019/04/09/mat-barzals-mindset-ahead-of-his-sidney-crosby-showdown/
April 9, 2019
Sidney Crosby and Matt Barzal (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The stage is set for the Islanders, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, with Game 1 of their first-round series against the Penguins set for Wednesday night at the Coliseum. As the spotlight searches the arena for a leading man, it will eventually focus on No. 13 in the home-blue sweater — and whether that’s good or bad is up to Mat Barzal.
The Islanders’ 21-year-old center is the reigning Calder Trophy winner, who spent a season under first-year coach Barry Trotz learning that he can’t win every game by himself. Even as the accolades kept coming, including his first All-Star appearance, Barzal constantly talked about just wanting to make the playoffs.
Well, now it’s here. The reward is a one-on-one matchup with Sidney Crosby, whose bust for the Hall of Fame was sculpted a long time ago.
“I think he’s almost a against one of his idols.
“Like every play he makehockey wizard, a god almost,” Barzal said about Crosby after Tuesday’s practice on Long Island at which he was flying around like he was already thinking about playing s is so hard and so crisp. He does things and sees things so fast, when you’re watching sometimes, he makes every play that you see from a bird’s-eye view. Everything that’s open, he makes, which is unbelievable. That’s what so special about him.”
Barzal met Crosby at this year’s All-Star weekend in San Jose, calling him “a super down-to-earth, focused dude.” But that has not stopped Barzal from champing at the bit to want to get his first taste of postseason hockey against one of the best.
“I’m a 21-year-old getting to go up against one of the best players in the world — if not the best. A guy I grew up watching. So it’s pretty special for me,” Barzal said. “I’m a competitor, too. I love being out there competing, playing with some fire. So I’m excited.”
Barzal has had to adjust to points not coming in the same volume this season as they did playing the wide-open style under former coach Doug Weight. Those Islanders were the worst defensive team in the league last season, but Barzal put up 85 points and was a runaway for Rookie of the Year.
This season, he finished with 18 goals and 62 points while playing in all 82 games. Still a pass-first type of player, it was shocking he was able to put up only one goal in the final 24 games of the regular season. Trotz has had a couple of different analogies for it, notably saying he doesn’t want Barzal to turn into a “one-trick pony,” and that he thinks the young charge had heeded that advice to some extent.
“He always thinks of himself as a playmaker,” Trotz said. “I just said, ‘You have to make sure you have a curveball and a fastball, and use both of them and do that a little bit more.’ And he has. I don’t think he has [any] frustration at all.”
Winning has made it a little easier on Barzal. His line with Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle had its moments, but the success has come when the club is getting contributions from everyone.
For most of the season, Barzal has accepted that for the sake of winning.
“Obviously everybody had to sacrifice a little bit just to get the goals [against] down and become a playoff team,” he said. “That’s just what it takes. As a player, the last 20-25 games especially, defensively and backchecking and playing hard — playing to win — I think I got that back in my game. I lost a little bit of that last year, playing free and all that stuff. It’s fun and it works, but it may not work consistently towards winning.
“The goal this year at the start of the year was to win, right? So it didn’t matter who you were or what role you had, you do your job. That’s why we’re in the playoffs.”
Now his job is matching up with Crosby on the grand postseason stage, and it’s to be seen how Barzal handles the heat of that spotlight.
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
Sidney Crosby won’t let Penguins lose to Islanders
By Mark Madden
https://triblive.com/sports/mark-madden-sidney-crosby-wont-let-penguins-lose-to-islanders/
April 8, 2019
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 10: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins has his shot stopped by Robin Lehner #40 of the New York Islanders during the first period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on December 10, 2018 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
When Jake Guentzel scored late against the New York Rangers in the Penguins’ regular-season finale Saturday, it scrounged a loser point and matched the Penguins against the New York Islanders instead of Washington in the playoffs’ first round.
That seemed like a good thing. Washington is the defending Stanley Cup champion. The Islanders didn’t make the playoffs last year.
But perhaps it’s not.
The Capitals are a much tougher foe. But the Penguins would take them seriously.
The Penguins won’t have the same respect for the Islanders. Coming out flat for Game 1 on Wednesday seems possible, even probable. Witness Saturday’s OT loss to the Rangers. Witness a 1-3 record against New Jersey, the Metropolitan Division’s last-place team.
But the Penguins will win this series.
Sidney Crosby won’t allow otherwise.
Look at Guentzel’s tying goal Saturday. Crosby just wouldn’t let the play die until he had his 100th point, Guentzel his 40th goal and the Penguins were on their way to Long Island instead of our nation’s capital.
Leadership is mostly imagined after the fact. But Crosby makes it easy to imagine.
The Penguins-Islanders series pits the irresistible force vs. the immovable object. The object might be more immovable than the force is irresistible.
In terms of personnel, this is a mismatch favoring the Penguins.
The Islanders’ leading scorer is Mathew Barzal (68 points). Crosby led the Penguins with 100.
Anders Lee is the Islanders’ top goal-scorer with 28. Guentzel netted 40.
The Islanders’ top defenseman is Nick Leddy, whoever that is. Kris Letang should (but won’t) be a Norris Trophy finalist.
But the Islanders allowed the NHL’s fewest goals, going from worst to best in that department. That allowed them to tack 23 points onto last year’s total despite the defection of superstar center John Tavares to Toronto.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz eliminated the Penguins last year when he was the Capitals’ boss. (He didn’t the two previous years.)
Trotz’s Islanders emphasize structure, not creativity. They will wait for the Penguins to make mistakes, then try to capitalize. (Get it?)
These Penguins do make mistakes. That’s often what enables inferior foes to beat them.
Look at the Rangers’ three goals in regulation Saturday: Egregious turnovers by Garrett Wilson and Guentzel led to the first two, and the third was the 15th short-handed goal conceded by the Penguins, a league high.
Those are the sort of errors the Islanders will feast on.
Perhaps opening the series on the road will give the Penguins focus. Nassau Coliseum is a tough rink. But the Penguins won’t feel the need to entertain like they too often persist in trying to do at PPG Paints Arena.
The Islanders won’t be rattled by Pittsburgh’s star power. They’re not that kind of team.
But they’re not ready for primetime, either.
The Penguins have a few problems. Top-pair defenseman Brian Dumoulin is returning from injury and might not play in Game 1. They have scored two goals or fewer in seven of their last 15 games. Saturday’s loss to the Rangers was not a strong finish.
But goaltender Matt Murray enters the playoffs in great form. Letang and Evgeni Malkin look comfortable after returning from injury. Phil Kessel ended his slump by scoring three goals in the Penguins’ last three games and looks better on the puck. The third line of Nick Bjugstad, Patric Hornqvist and Dominik Simon works well down low and is a useful change of pace. Crosby is hockey’s best player.
The Penguins are just better than the Islanders.
But the standings didn’t show that, and this series might not.
The Islanders nonetheless face an uphill climb. All the games figure to be close, but the Penguins figure to win most of them.
Penguins in six, maybe five.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM 105.9.
Categories: Sports | Penguins | Mark Madden Columns | Top Stories
Wednesday, March 06, 2019
Sidney Crosby is out of his damn mind right now
By Kyle Cantlon
March 5, 2019
Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his second period goal against the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on March 5, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)
Make no bones about it, Sidney Crosby is still the best player on Planet Earth.
With all the (justified) hype surrounding the younger generation of elite talent in the NHL right now — led by Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Johnny Gaudreau — along with the emergence of Nikita Kucherov as a production juggernaut over the past couple seasons and the never-ending offensive badassery of Alex Ovechkin, Crosby likes to remind us every now and then that he remains king of the puck game.
If you’ve been watching close enough, though, he’s pretty much doled out that reminder every time he’s suited up since coming into the league, but his recent stretch has simply been something else — arguably the best hockey we’ve ever seen him play, which is a hard thought to fathom.
Crosby’s “I’m still your daddy” tour continued full-steam ahead on Tuesday, as Pittsburgh’s captain was in on all three Penguins goals in their 3-2 overtime win versus the Panthers. He culminated his effort with an absurd flip pass to Jake Guentzel on the OT winner.
That egregious display of vision, spacial awareness and all-worldly playmaking ability came on the same night as a special milestone for No. 87, who notched his 1,200th career point on Pittsburgh’s first tally of the night.
Only 48 skaters have ever totalled 1,200 or more NHL points and, hitting the mark in his 927th career game, Crosby is the 11th fastest in NHL history to do so.
On the heels of a casual four-point outing versus Montreal on Saturday, Sid’s three-point night against the Panthers gives him seven in his last two games. Over his last five contests, Crosby has tallied five goals and 13 points. He’s been clipping at a 2.45 point-per-game pace over his last 11.
His last 31 games has been one of the most productive stretches of his career, with The Kid finding the scoresheet 48 times over that span while failing to register at least a point in only six (6!) of those contests.
No. 87 may not be the NHL’s best pure goal-scorer, passer, stick-handler or skater, but no one — maybe ever — computes the games and puts it all together on a consistent basis quite like Sid.
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Too late for Penguins’ Sidney Crosby to make MVP push?
By Tim Benz
March 5, 2019
Dale Weise #22 of the Montreal Canadiens skates for the puck against Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
Is Sidney Crosby making a late push to get into the MVP conversation?
It was a topic on the KDKA Sports ShowdownSunday. It came up on Mark Madden’s show on 105.9 the X Monday. “The Athletic” mentioned it after Crosby’s four-point performance in Montreal. And it was featured on the ESPN Pittsburgh radio blog as well.
Well, I guess if we are having this much discussion about the conversation, let’s have the conversation then.
The Penguins captain has 25 points since Feb. 1. He’s now tied for fifth in the league in scoring with 83 points.
Via an assist with some stat crunching from our Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, Crosby’s 4.4 on-ice goals for per 60 minutes of ice time is tops in the NHL among forwards with at least 500 minutes of 5-on-5 play. That’s according to advanced-stats website Natural Stat Trick.
This recent hot scoring stretch has buoyed a consistently good defensive effort throughout this season. Crosby’s 2.02 goals against per 60 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5 is better than the likes of Patrice Bergeron (2.47), Anze Kopitar (2.57), Mark Stone (2.63) and Jonathan Toews (3.01).
Kopitar, Toews and Bergeron have all won the Selke Trophy (best defensive forward). And Stone is renowned as a strong two-way player as well.
Maybe we should be talking as much about Crosby for the Selke as we should be for the Hart Trophy (most valuable player).
Let’s stick with the Hart discussion for the time being, though.
Crosby’s two-way acumen has to be part of the analysis. So does the fact that his offensive emergence has come at a time when other top scorers in Pittsburgh — such as Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel — have been injured, suspended and slumping.
Unfortunately, advancing that argument makes as much of a case for Patrick Kane putting the Blackhawks on his back via his 94 points as it does for Crosby.
If you want to dismiss Kane and Connor McDavid (92 points) because their teams likely aren’t going to make the playoffs, that’s fine.
But then you have to try to make the argument for Crosby against Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin.
Kucherov leads the NHL with 106 points on a team that is going to win the President’s Trophy with the league’s best overall record. Ovechkin’s 45 goals are best in the NHL on a Capitals club that’s on top of the Metropolitan Division.
Then there’s Johnny Gaudreau with one more point than Crosby on the Pacific Division-leading Flames.
All that is to say nothing of defensemen Brett Burns, Mark Giordano and Morgan Riley, who may deserve to be in the race, too.
In the case of Kucherov, I’m trying to envision a media person in Pittsburgh telling Penguins fans that Crosby — in a year when he wins the scoring title by double digits on the best team in the league — shouldn’t win the Hart Trophy.
Do you think Penguins Twitter would condemn that person to death or merely organize a good tar-and-feathering in the middle of Grant Street?
When it comes to the praise of Crosby’s two-way play, that’s great. It is well deserved.
But a few years ago, when some were trying to say Toews’ was the best player in the league, I remember Penguins loyalists telling me that stuff shouldn’t matter.
Goals and points. That’s what’s mattered.
Let’s avoid moving the goalposts depending on which argument better fits the guy we like. Crosby’s charge to a potential third Hart Trophy may simply be occurring too late in a year with too many good candidates.
Want to put Crosby in the top five right now? Sure. Top three? That’s a stretch. Win the Hart? No. Not yet.
To borrow a line from Le’Veon Bell’s infamous agent, Adisa Bakari, “barring something exceptional,” this probably won’t be his year. However, March is a long and important month. No. 87 had 20 points between March 1 and the end of the season last year.
Things can change. And to borrow another line from a different estranged Steeler, Crosby does have “exceptionalism.”
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or viaTwitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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