Penguins Perspectives: The captain's legacy and legend only grows
Welcome to Penguins Perspectives, a weekly column by KDKA-TV Digital Producer Patrick Damp. Each Friday, Patrick will talk about the week that was, the week to come, what to watch for, and more.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - I'm starting this week's column with a flashback to childhood for people like me - people who were the oldest sibling.
Remember when you were a kid and you felt like annoying your younger sibling in some way and the usual phrase came out of your brother or sister's mouth?
"Mom! He's doing it again!!"
That's all I could think of when I watched the Penguins take on the Canadiens earlier this week.
Sidney Crosby, once again, is doing it again.
Now, it's incredibly easy to sit down and write an article praising Sidney Crosby. He's a three-time Stanley Cup winner, he's won two gold medals, two scoring titles, multiple MVP accolades, and so much more.
To say he's an all-time great is to state the incredibly obvious.
But now, at 36, he's making a statement that this league is still very much his.
He may no longer be the king of the castle, but he's certainly on the council ruling the National Hockey League.
Let's just run down a few statistics for the man who was once the kid.
He's tied for 13th in the NHL in points with 31, tied for fourth in goals, tied for second in even-strength goals, and tied for fourth in even-strength points.
He's also operating at 59.9 percent in the faceoff circle.
Then there's Wednesday night in Montreal. It's been well-documented that Les Habitants were his boyhood team, just like his former teammate Mario Lemieux, and just like he loves them, Habs fans love him.
The top-line stats are impressive on their own, two goals and an assist for a three-point night on top of a goal in the shootout. Also, another 60 percent performance in the faceoff circle.
Many people like using the phrase "vintage Sidney Crosby performance" but it truly was that.
The first period was not kind to the Penguins.
Montreal jumped out to a 2-0 lead and controlled the flow of play. Alex Nedeljkovic did not look sharp to start, and it appeared the Penguins were poised to get completely run out of the building.
With the way the team has been struggling lately, a bad loss to a worse team would've been potentially catastrophic for this team's psyche as well as its plans to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Then Sidney Crosby happened.
With the Penguins reeling, he jumped on a forecheck and forced a turnover, giving the Penguins a scoring chance. He then pounced on a rebound and finished the play to bring the Penguins back to life.
In classic Crosby fashion, it wasn't a coast-to-coast, beat five guys, and then the goalie kind of goal - it was a hard-working blue-collar goal.
Then in the second period, as the power play had been working out of a franchise-long drought, Crosby would set up one and score another to knot the game at three.
Finally, before scoring in the shootout, 87's work defensively during a third period when the Penguins were being outplayed, helped keep them even, earning them a point.
Yes, the statistics are easy to marvel at and discuss because they're right in front of our faces, but it's more than that right now.
This is what the all-time greats do.
They get their points, they make their highlights, but when the chips are down, when things look bleak, they pull their teams into the fight.
Sure, chances are the Hart Trophy will go to the best player in the NHL this coming offseason and that player is Connor McDavid, but right now, there's greatness happening at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.
Since I know she's reading this one…
"Mom!! Crosby's doing it again!!"
