CROSBY ON A MISSION
At his best at the right time
It was one of those ridiculous Sidney Crosby snapshots in time that even had his own teammates shaking their heads in disbelief.
Picking up the puck in the neutral zone, Pittsburgh’s No. 87 rocketed into hyperspeed, practically skating through allworld Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman and leaving his partner Anton Stralman behind in a vapour trail before going five-hole to give the Penguins a 3-0 game lead in Game 6 of this best-of-seven Eastern Conference final Tuesday night.
It was so good, Crosby admitted Wednesday, that he’d subsequently seen highlights of it on TV.
“It’s not something you need to watch over and over again, but I think that, yeah, it’s fun,” Crosby said.
Not just for him, but for his entire team.
“When Sid’s playing that way, I think it certainly gives our bench a big lift,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
When Sidney Crosby is on his game, this is what he does. He changes games. He has now scored three game-winning goals in this series including his splitting of Hedman and Stralman in Pittsburgh’s dominating 5-2 victory Tuesday. Only Hall of Famer Mike Bossy has more, scoring four in a series back in 1983.
Going into Game 7 Thursday at the CONSOL Energy Center, Crosby would like to equal the record established by the Islanders legend 33 years earlier.
On the other side of the ice, Steven Stamkos can also be described as a difference maker. At least he was, up until late in the season when he was forced to undergo blood clot surgery. Now, his leadership is confined to off the ice.
But hope springs eternal with speculation about the possibility of a Stamkos return Thursday. As a source familiar with the situation noted: “Anything’s possible.”
No one should bank on that happening. When it comes to blood clots, the only certainty is the uncertainty involved. But in this Tale of Two Captains, what wonderful theatre Game 7 would provide if Stamkos could somehow find his way back into game action in this, his team’s most important stage production of 2015-16.
“I’m sure it would give them a boost,” Crosby said of the hypothetical scenario of a possible Stamkos appearance. “I mean, adding a player of his calibre certainly would. But I think regardless of what happens, I mean, it’s really got to be about our game and what we need to do.
“If he’s in the lineup, it’s something you have to be aware of 100 per cent. We’ll see what happens but I think a lot of our focus has got to be on putting our best game out there and seeing what that brings us.”
The Lightning certainly have been aware of Crosby in this series, but too often have been unable to sufficiently do anything about it.
That will have to change in Game 7. Crosby seems to be on a mission, aware that what happens Thursday could effect his eventual legacy when all is said and done.
Fairly or unfairly, for all he has accomplished in his illustrious career, the one question that seems to loom over his otherwise impressive body of work remains: How has Sidney Crosby won just one Stanley Cup since entering the NHL in 2005?
It would, on the surface, seem like a silly thing to ask, given his impressive body of work including the memorable golden goal in 2010 in Vancouver that gave Canada the Olympic title. Still, there is no denying that his failure to earn multiple Cup rings in his career is a motivating factor in Crosby’s drive for success this spring.
“I think you look at it just as an opportunity,” Crosby said.
“You know, probably you don’t think about a lot of other stuff besides the fact that it’s really hard to get there. It’s a game — it’s one game, and we’ve got to find a way to win it and try to enjoy it as much as you can, but also understand that it’s a great opportunity, and try to leave it all out there.”
In the case of Steven Stamkos, he’d just like to be out there, period.
What a Tale of Two Captains that would be.