Nov. 27, 2010, doesn't seem that long ago, until you see it on video. It's grainy, like a Zapruder-film hockey highlight.
On the standard definition clip, Sidney Crosby -- in his powder blue alternate jersey -- can be seen firing the puck 130 feet from just before his own blue line and into the vacant Calgary net.
"Sidney Crosby with the hat trick!" Paul Steigerwald bellows. "That's his sixth, and it's a short-handed goal!"
Obviously, the hat trick was the headline in the Penguins' 4-1 win that night. That game was No. 12 in Crosby's 25-game points streak, the NHL's longest in 18 years. Sid the Kid, still just 23, was on top of the hockey world.
Then, five weeks later, he wasn't.
After seeing his streak snapped a game earlier against the Islanders, Crosby was blindsided, literally and figuratively, by David Steckel in the 2011 Winter Classic on that unforgettable rainy night at Heinz Field. His season was over and nearly his career. It wasn't until after five years of playoff disappointments that Crosby led the Penguins to the first of consecutive Stanley Cup championships, cementing his legacy among the NHL's all-time greats.
This season, with 53 points in 40 games, Crosby is on pace for his first 100-point season since 2013-14 and has pushed aside any talk of who the best player in the game is. There's really no debate.
Still, seven years, one month and 14 days later, that empty net goal against the Flames still stands as the third and last short-handed goal that Crosby has ever scored:
But at least now there is a chance there could be more.
____________________
For the first time post-concussion, Crosby is once again seeing time on the Penguins' penalty-kill along with regular linemate Jake Guentzel.
Mike Sullivan insists that he hadn't been reluctant to use Crosby on the penalty-kill before for fear of injury, but rather it was an attempt to better manage his minutes. The captain already plays around 20 minutes per game.
The genesis behind it may have begun in a 2-1 loss at Washington on Nov. 7. Crosby played just :16 shorthanded that night, but he also went down to his knees to block a Devante Smith-Pelly shot late in the third period of what had been a tie game. Why not maximize Crosby's compete level with his offensive skill set?
Guentzel said neither he nor Crosby went to Sullivan asking to be used on the PK. Nor did the coach come to them. But with his team struggling to score goals at the time, he turned to two of his most gifted and cerebral players on the kill.
"It just kind of happened in a game one time; it's just kind of stuck ever since," Guentzel was telling me. "I know I like to get out there. And I'm pretty sure he likes it, too. It's been fun."
Crosby, who played the final 2 1/2 weeks of the 2007 regular season and playoffs after breaking his foot while blocking a shot, says he has attended Jacques Martin's PK meetings and is still getting acclimated with opponents' in-zone plays and passing lanes. But he added that he likes the challenge of reading plays and anticipating what opponents might do.
"It keeps you in the game," said Crosby, "It’s a big responsibility for whoever goes out to get those kills. Those situations are fun to be in.”
Beginning in mid-December, Crosby and Guentzel have seen spot duty on the PK. Coincidentally or not, that coincides with Pittsburgh's turnaround and the Penguins scoring all four of their short-handed goals this season. They had gone 57 games without one before Zach Aston-Reese scored against Boston on Dec. 14.
By adding another set of penalty-killers, it keeps the regulars fresh.
In Tuesday night's 5-1 win over the Panthers, the Penguins' third-ranked PK (84.2 percent) -- which has been outstanding this season -- got two more short-handed tallies from Bryan Rust and Riley Sheahan.
Though Crosby and Guentzel have yet to score while down a man, they've certainly created chances.
Here, after Sheahan gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead against the Panthers, Crosby and Guentzel were relentless in pressuring Florida's entry. That led to Aaron Ekblad throwing a blind D-to-D pass that Crosby intercepted and took up a ice on a 2-on-2 break:
"You have to be aware of how good the power play is, but maybe you can catch them on a break one time," said Guentzel. "So, we're just trying to get the job done and if we can go, we go."
Six nights earlier against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Crosby and Guentzel had nearly 90 seconds each of PK time. In this sequence in the second period, the Penguins got hemmed in the zone — but not before Guentzel nearly springs Crosby on a potential breakaway:
Notice the pressure they put on the Rangers' point men -- forwards Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello in New York's unorthodox scheme -- and the active sticks with which they play. No, it's not quite the traditional box or umbrella seen on most kills.
Together, Crosby and Guentzel have played 13:21 short-handed this season, allowing just one goal. They have a 21.74 Corsi For percentage -- hey, they are playing short-handed -- but, most impressively, they've created as many high danger chances (2) as they've yielded (2).
Because of his vast experience playing on the power play, Rust believes Crosby has strong insights in how to stop them.
"He thinks the game so well and is able to read plays," Rust was telling me. "He thinks like a power play guy, so that might give him a little bit of a step up because he knows what guys are looking for and he's, obviously, a good enough player to do that."
With the addition of the title of penalty-killer, along with a 55.8 face-off win percentage, Crosby has earned early consideration for the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the league's best defensive forward. Sullivan certainly endorses that.
"When you look at his overall game, it’s the most complete game, I think, that any player possesses," the coach said. "He’s the best 200-foot player in the game."
____________________
That, of course, begs the question: Is this the best, most complete version of Crosby?
"Just in my time here, he plays at such a high level, but I think you can tell this year, when we were losing, he turned the bus around for us and got us going in the right direction," Guentzel was telling me. "He's definitely feeling it right now."
"He's been really good and he's always been really good," Rust said. "For me to say when he's been his best, I don't know, but this is definitely up there."
Among his teammates, Jack Johnson has known Crosby the longest, dating back to their high school days at Shattuck-St. Mary's, a Minnesota prep powerhouse.
Teammates again for the first time in 15 years, Johnson says the key to Crosby is his willingness to learn and re-invent himself. He wasn't the best at faceoffs, but has developed into the one of the best on draws. He's not the most natural goal-scorer, but he's twice won the Rocket Richard Trophy and has 20 goals already in 2018-19.
At 31 years of age, Crosby's in a sweet spot in his career. There's been little -- none, Johnson insists -- physical decline. But Crosby now thinks the game as well as he can play it.
"As he's gotten older, he's gotten smarter," Johnson was saying. "He's always been a great player. I think he still feels like he's still learning. That's what makes him so great. He's looking to get better every day."