The Penguins couldn't give Mike Lange a victory in his return to the broadcast booth, but Sidney Crosby made sure he got something by which he could remember the game.
As Lange and his radio broadcast partner, Phil Bourque, were leaving the PPG Paints Arena press box after the Penguins' 3-1 loss to Boston Tuesday night, Emma Kilmer of the team's communications staff approached them.
She handed Lange a puck and an envelope and said, "This is from Sid."
The puck was one that had been used in the game; the envelope presumably contained a note or card.
The gesture obviously touched Lange, who had gotten a rousing ovation from the crowd -- and the home team's bench -- when his presence was announced during the game.
"Don't get me started on Sid," he said. "Not as a player. As a person."
Lange, 73 and a Hall of Fame play-by-play man, worked his first game of the season in place of Josh Getzoff, who became a first-time father Monday. Getzoff actually has been filling in for Lange, who put his career on hold because of pandemic-related concerns and an unrelated medical procedure.
Thoughtful acts like the one after the Bruins game hardly are uncommon for Crosby, although the vast majority likely go unnoticed by anyone except the recipient.
Three years ago, for example, he sent photos with a personalized message to each of the survivors of the bus crash that killed 15 players and staff members of the Humboldt Broncos junior team.
Word of that got out only because a reporter overheard Crosby discussing his plans with a Penguins official.