Crosby's Return

[Sports Hour]

Crosby Has Four Points In Return As Penguins Blank Islanders

It's official, Sidney Crosby is back, and he made an immediate impact for the Penguins.

Crosby, who has been out since January 5th with a concussion, opened the scoring early in the first period and added a second goal early in the third in Pittsburgh's 5-0 win over the New York Islanders. The Penguins captain also assisted on the team's second and third goals of the game.

After netting a strong backhander to give Pittsburgh the early lead, Crosby set up Brooks Orpik for the Penguins' second goal of the game - a blast from the blue line, and kept the play alive on the Penguins' third goal of the game - an Evgeni Malkin power play marker.

Steve Sullivan scored the Pens' fourth goal before Crosby added his second of the game in the third period - another backhander, this time from a sharp angle.

With his four-point night, Crosby passed 243 players on the scoring list as his quest for the Art Ross Trophy is underway.

Crosby, who has practiced with the Penguins since training camp opened Sept. 17, was given a rousing ovation by the Penguins' faithful as he took to the ice to start the game, and the crowd chanted 'Crosby' early in the third period after his second goal. The crowd also cheered loudly when Crosby was announced as the first star of the game.

Crosby finished the game with 21 shifts and 15:54 of ice time. His ice time dipped in the third - he played 11:41 through the first two periods - with Pittsburgh comfortably in the lead. Crosby finished with eight shots on net.

Pascal Dupuis assisted on both of Crosby goals as well as Orpik's marker, giving him three points on the night. Malkin had two points on the night, also assisting on Sullivan's goal.

Deryk Engelland and Zbynek Michalek also picked up assists on Crosby goals while Kris Letang and James Neal notched a helper each to round out the scoring for Pittsburgh.

Next up, Crosby and the Penguins host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday and the Ottawa Senators on Friday, before returning to the road to take on the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.​

Source: tsn.ca

 

[Sports Hour]

Went out to watch this game.

Fantastic playing by Crosby. First shift he was noticeably rusty, and he missed a pass in favour of not getting hit open ice in the offensive zone.

But after shaking off those jitters, he definitely made his presence known. One has to feeling happy for the guy, after missing 60 games and returning in the fashion that he did.

Very entertaining game to watch, even though it was completely one sided.

 

[germany00]

he was playing with good awarness and just good all around offensive ability