Sidney Crosby has been the Penguins' best player through the first two weeks of the NHL season, as he has been for much of the time since he broke into the league in 2005.
He's 32 now, and while his game has evolved over the years, Crosby said he doesn't think it has changed all that much since he was a rookie.
"I think it's probably pretty similar," he said. "Hopefully, experience helps you in some forms. Being a little bit more responsible defensively, maybe. Showing a little bit more poise in certain situations because you've gone through certain things. But I feel like I'm still learning."
One thing he's caught on to is that it wouldn't be prudent to maintain the same routine when he was a teenager or in his early 20s, despite his ferocious commitment to conditioning.
"You have to take care of yourself a little more, make use of the time to recover, the days off," he said. "Maybe even throw in a few more in there than you typically have. I've always, if I had the choice, most times I'd skate in an optional (practice). But maybe now, once in a while, I take the option. You try to listen to your body, but it's a fine line. I like to practice, like to feel sharp and execute out there. It's just a balance of listening to your body and having the opportunity to go out there and practice, too."
MORE PENGUINS
• Want to know what the Penguins coaches and management really think about John Marino? Don't just listen to what his bosses say about Marino in public; the message he was given in private is a lot more telling. Marino is the only one of the 10 defensemen (including Zach Trotman, who is on Long-Term Injured Reserve) on the major-league roster who could be assigned to Wilkes-Barre without having to clear waivers. But that's apparently not an option that will be considered to help ease the logjam on defense, because Marino was told a while ago to look for an apartment, which does not happen when a player is expected to commute between the NHL and American Hockey League. "That was always the intention, going through (training) camp," Jim Rutherford said. "When we traded for him, when we signed him, we felt very strong about his ability to play this year. Right from the start of camp, we were impressed with his mobility. His reaction to recover, and the way he moves the puck. The way he skates. We just really like what he brought to the team." -- Molinari
• An unspecified lower-body injury has limited Alex Galchenyuk to three games this season, but until Thursday night, that hadn't prevented him from matching the points output of the guy the Penguins traded to get him from Arizona four months ago. Galchenyuk has two assists in those games, while Phil Kessel, acquired to enhance the Coyotes' offense, had identical production in Arizona's first five games before getting his first two goals of the season in the Coyotes' 5-2 victory over Nashville in Game No. 6. -- Molinari
• The Penguins already have recalled a handful of forwards from their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, but the Baby Penguins' leading goal-scorer hasn't been summoned to the parent club yet. There's a pretty good reason for that, too. Stefan Noesen, who has six goals in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's first five games, is under contract only to that team, not the Penguins. That could change at some point, however, because the Penguins brought him into the organization with the intent of giving Noesen, who was Ottawa's first-round draft choice in 2011, an NHL deal if his performance merited it. "He's done enough to be on radar," Rutherford said. "We're at 49 (NHL) contracts now, and you can have 50, so there's one available. I really don't like to get right up against the 50, just like you don't like to get right up against the (salary) cap, but we always are. So if something opens up there, we'll look at putting him on an NHL deal." -- Molinari
STEELERS
• Steelers linebacker Ola Adeniyi watched last Monday night's game between the Lions and Packers and saw Detroit defensive end Trey Flowers get called for a pair of phantom hands-to-the-face penalties that helped Green Bay win that game. It hit all too close to home for Adeniyi, who was called for a highly questionable roughing the passer penalty two weeks ago in a 26-23 overtime loss to the Ravens. "That changed the whole game -- two of them," Adeniyi said of the penalties on Flowers. "Both of them looked legal to me." The NFL said Tuesday one of the calls was legitimate and the other was not. But that doesn't help the Lions now, any more than the fact Adeniyi wasn't fined for his "roughing" penalty helps the Steelers now. That penalty gave the Ravens 15 yards and a first down instead of having to face third-and-8. It also helped Baltimore set up a game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime. But there's nothing that can be done about those things after the fact. "That's part of the game," Adeniyi told me. "You've got to ride with what the ref says. It sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it." He's just happy he wasn't fined. A fine in those situations, even for a first-time offender such as Adeniyi would have been roughly $21,000. "That would have been my entire check," he told me. Some have suggested making penalties such as roughing the passer and illegal hands to the face available for a coach's challenge, much like pass interference penalties now are. But given the fact the league has only overturned one pass interference call or non-call since Week 2 -- when they overturned a non-call in favor of the Seahawks against the Steelers -- what good would it do? "It's up to the league, whatever course they decide on," Adeniyi told me. "That play, what happens if you create another challenge flag and you lose it? You've only got two. It's up to the league, the coaches, to decide on it. It's part of football. There are going to be bad calls. The refs are human, as well." -- Dale Lolley at the Rooney Complex
• Though they won't say it publicly, the Steelers' offensive linemen were more than a little happy about a game plan against the Chargers that resulted in running the ball 33 times with the running backs. In fact, James Conner and Benny Snell combined for 41 touches in that game out of 56 offensive snaps. Is that level of dependence on the running backs sustainable? Probably not. But Conner has averaged 16 touches per game (rushing and receiving) and Snell and Jaylen Samuels aren't adding much to that, with Snell at four touches per game and Samuels at five. That's just not enough in today's NFL, especially given the Steelers' situation at quarterback. There's not an offensive lineman alive who wants to throw the ball more than run it. And even though the Steelers' linemen are better at pass blocking, they prefer run blocking. -- Lolley
• Mike Tomlin said Wednesday his team is going to have to be creative in finding ways to rush the passer with Stephon Tuitt no longer available. While more will be expected of Javon Hargrave and Tyson Alualu, look for the Steelers to also move Cam Heyward around on the line more often, as well. Remember, when Heyward was out for the second half of the 2016 season, the Steelers did that with Tuitt to keep teams from easily setting double teams on him. The difference now is that Tuitt was the team's best pass rusher that season. Now, the Steelers have two credible rushers on the edge in T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree, as well, while Hargrave also has good pass rushing skills. The loss of Tuitt hurts. He was having a Pro Bowl season. Moving Heyward around will help offset that. So don't be surprised when you see, for example, Hargrave and Dupree playing defensive tackle spots in the team's nickel and dime defenses, with Heyward lined up on the tackle. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• The silence out of 115 Federal is now deafening. When I have stuff on the ownership and front office, I'll share it. When I don't, obviously, I won't. There's been not a peep all week. -- Dejan Kovacevic
• Don't take this as some hard news item, but this is Insider, where we kind of blur those lines a bit: There are people of significant wealth who very much are interested in buying the Pirates from Bob Nutting. I've heard not from one, not from a few, but from several. And beyond the means, the one thing they have in common -- all but one, anyway -- is a direct Pittsburgh connection and, through that, a passion for wishing that the city's baseball franchise was being run properly. So why haven't I reported on any of these? Simple: There's been zero indication from any front of an actual approach, never mind the potential for a rejection. It's all just talk for now. -- DK
• Heard the other night at the hockey game that some city, county and state officials were dismayed at the amount of feedback sent to their offices by constituents demanding that the government do its diligence on an existing and important lease agreed upon between a 133-year-old civic institution and a connected branch of government. Imagine that. -- DK
