CROSBY LEADS WAY IN PENS’ LANDSLIDE

At a pivotal moment, best player on the ice overwhelmed and embarrassed Nashville

The problem was never Sidney Crosby. It never is.

No, the reason why the Pittsburgh Penguins headed into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final having blown a 2-0 series lead to the Nashville Predators was because of the players surrounding Crosby. He played great in the back-to-back road losses. The rest of his teammates might not have even been in the same city.

So the fact that Crosby once again showed up and played arguably his best game of the playoffs wasn’t necessarily the story in Thursday’s 6-0 blowout. It was that, unlike the previous two games, it wasn’t just a oneman show.

The Penguins’ best players were their best players. Heck, their worst players were better than the Predators’ so-called best. Phil Kessel, who went six games without scoring, had a goal and two assists. Evgeni Malkin, who had gone without a shot in Game 3, had a goal and assist. Justin Schultz and Bryan Rust scored their first goals of the series. Even Ron Hainsey scored.

Then there was Matt Murray. The Penguins goalie, who allowed nine goals combined in the last two games, rebounded in a big way by stopping all 24 shots.

The question for the Penguins, which are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions, is whether they can continue that effort on the road in Nashville on Sunday, where they had so much trouble. But it’s not a question that really concerns Crosby.

Crosby didn’t score in Game 5, but he set up three goals and could have easily assisted on three more. He was that good, that dominant. He set the tone, both offensively and physically. The rest of the team followed.

With time winding down in the first period, P.K. Subban wrestled Crosby to the ground and grabbed hold of his leg, preventing him from getting up. Crosby didn’t complain. He didn’t wait for a referee to intervene. Instead, he started shoving Subban’s head repeatedly against the ice.

It was a dangerous play from a player who should probably know better, based on his own concussion history.

But it illustrated the kind of attitude Crosby brought to Game 5.

With eight goals and 27 points, Crosby isn’t leading the playoffs in scoring.

But, just as he did during last year’s playoffs, he’s been leading the team. Another game like this and he won’t just win a second straight Stanley Cup — he could also walk away with another Conn Smythe Trophy.

Before the game, a Predators fan tossed a catfish onto the ice. Once the game started, the ice belonged to the Penguins — or at least the captain.

On his first shift, Crosby split Nashville’s defence and rang a shot off the post, drawing a holding penalty in the process. Pittsburgh scored on the ensuing power play, with Schultz onetiming a pass from Crosby that seemed to redirect off a Nashville player’s stick on its way in.

If Crosby brought his A game, Pekka Rinne once again brought his road game.

The Predators goalie, who gave up only two goals in two games in Nashville, gave up two goals in his first six minutes.

After the third goal went by him to end the period, his night was over.

Rinne, who had also been pulled in Game 2 and has a .755 save percentage in the three Pittsburgh games, was replaced by Juuse Saros to start the second period — not that anyone could have stopped Crosby and company on Thursday night.

On the fourth goal, Crosby wheeled behind the net and found Conor Sheary with a backhand pass. The Penguins kept attacking, with Kessel whipping a shot past Saros for his eighth goal of the playoffs — and Crosby picked up an assist.

This was a different Pittsburgh team than we had seen in the series — and that included the wins in games 1 and 2. The Penguins played fast and with a purpose. The defence, which had been the team’s biggest weak spot in the series, moved the puck with ease and efficiency.

It was as if after watching the Predators for four games, the Penguins were able to finally figure out their opponent’s weak spot. Of course, the biggest weak spot right now is that Pittsburgh has Crosby and Nashville has no answer for him.