Crosby doing it all for Penguins

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby’s teammates keep saying that nothing ever changes with the Pittsburgh Penguins captain. That the secret to his greatness is really no secret at all. The Penguins believe he remains the same player and the same person every shift, every night.

In theory, yes. But not always in practice.

What separates Crosby is an ability to raise his play in lockstep with the stakes. His team’s grasp on a secondstraight Stanley Cup was tenuous at best heading into Game 5 of the finals against Nashville on Thursday, but Crosby did more than send a message. He took over. And he led. In more ways than one.

Sure, Crosby racked up three assists in the Penguins’ lopsided 6-0 win to give them a 3-2 lead in the series. Yet becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in points captures only a slice of the brilliance and brawn (yes, really) that pushed Pittsburgh to the verge of a fifth title.

There was his quicksilver first shift, when Crosby split the Predators defense shortly after the opening faceoff, then rang a shot off the left post while drawing a penalty from Nashville’s Ryan Ellis, who had tried futilely to slow him. Pittsburgh scored on the ensuing power play and never looked back.

There was his scrum behind the Nashville net late in the first period with frequent tormentor P.K. Subban. Crosby responded doing some “UFC move” on his right foot by trying to make Subban’s face a permanent part of the ice.

There was the blind backhand pass to Conor Sheary just 1:19 into the second period that made it 4-0.

Crosby spent only 18:03 on the ice during the rout. It just seemed like more.

“When he plays that way, it’s awfully easy to follow him,” Penguins forward Matt Cullen said. “He’s pretty inspirational when he plays that way and he gets to a level that not many guys can get to.”