Sidney Crosby has had some memorable comeback games during his 16-plus seasons with the Penguins.
There was the one in 2011, when he had two goals and two assists against the Islanders after being out for nearly a year because of a concussion. That time he torched the Islanders for a couple of goals in 2013 after a broken jaw forced him to sit out six weeks. And when he came back against the Wild in 2020 following a two-month-plus recovery from sports hernia surgery and racked up a goal and three assists.
And now there is at least one that he surely will want to forget.
Which most of his teammates should try to do, as well.
As quickly as possible.
While it wasn't necessarily realistic to expect Crosby to replicate one of his past masterpieces, very little about his performance during the Penguins' 4-2 loss to the Devils at PPG Paints Arena Saturday night inspired memories of some of his glorious comebacks from extended absences.
He played 19 minutes, 16 seconds against New Jersey and was credited with two shots and a couple of hits.
And those were the most favorable numbers he generated.
By far.
Crosby, who sat out the first seven games of the season while recovering from wrist surgery, won just eight of 23 faceoffs and was on the ice for
three Devils goals.
And the one he wasn't there for came on a penalty shot awarded after Crosby was called for tripping Jesper Bratt from behind as Bratt was moving in on goal with three minutes to play and the score tied, 2-2.
Crosby and Mike Sullivan were predictably displeased with the decision to award a penalty shot, which Bratt executed flawlessly for what proved to be the game-winner, but it was hard to argue that the Penguins deserved anything better than a third consecutive regulation loss on home ice.
"I don't think we played well tonight," Sullivan said. "We started playing in the third period, but for me, we weren't good enough. We weren't good enough tonight, as a team. We need to be better as a team, in all areas.
"Our attention to detail wasn't as good (as in previous games). I don't think we were skating. We weren't playing the game on our toes."
Which is why the Penguins ended up on their backs.
If there was good news for the Penguins on this night, it's that Crosby said his conditioning "felt all right."
Nothing else about his first evening back on active duty got such a favorable review, however.
"Timing was obviously a little off," Crosby said. "I obviously would have liked for it to go better."
That was particularly true of his work on faceoffs. Because of the nature of his surgery, there had been concern about his wrist holding up under the physical demands of taking draws.
His wrist didn't seem to cause any problems, but Crosby -- usually the Penguins' most accomplished faceoff man -- had a generally miserable showing on them.
"I felt better in practice than I did tonight," he said. "I just didn't win enough. That's basically what it came down to. That's not an excuse. It's not my wrist. I didn't get it done."
Sullivan acknowledged that Crosby was nowhere near his best in this game but, not surprisingly, was not as harsh in his assessment of Crosby's work as Crosby had been.
"I thought he competed hard," Sullivan said. "It's his first game in probably five months, We all have such high expectations of him, but for him, it's not an easy thing to jump into a regular-season NHL game when you've gone through what he's gone through.
"I think he's going to get better with each game he plays. ... Our expectation is that it's going to take him a few games to get his timing back and things of that nature."
The Penguins had been hoping to get a boost from the return of Crosby and Jeff Carter, who had spent the previous three games in the COVID-19 protocol, but instead responded to their return with their most sluggish, unfocused effort of the season.
"It's always and interesting dynamic when you bring players back into the lineup," Sullivan said. "The challenge is to continue to play the game (the way players had been). Everybody has to think in terms of trying to make an impact on the game, a positive impact on the game. I just didn't think we did that as a team."
One guy who did was Tristan Jarry, the only reason suspense about the outcome lasted as long as it did.
He couldn't be faulted on any of the New Jersey goals for which he was in the net -- one bounced in off Evan Rodrigues' skate, Jimmy Vesey beat him on a shorthanded breakaway and Bratt scored on the penalty shot -- as he finished with 36 saves.
Andreas Johnsson's goal into an empty net at18:17 of the third also counts against Jarry's stats, even though he was on his way to the bench to be replaced by an extra attacker when Johnsson scored.
Jarry did some of his best work during the second period when, not coincidentally, his teammates did some of their worst.
"We got away from our game a bit," Danton Heinen said.
Yeah, just a bit. If there is a language in which "bit" means "grotesquely" and "repeatedly."
The Devils routinely dissected the Penguins for breakaways and odd-man rushes, but Jarry rejected 13 of the 14 shots they threw at him during those 20 minutes. The backhander Vesey slid past him on his breakaway was the only shot that eluded Jarry then.
"(Jarry) kept us in that game," said Brock McGinn, whose goal at 2:02 of the third period tied the game, 2-2.
The Penguins seemed to rediscover their game during the second intermission, and actually played pretty well for much of the third.
They had several opportunities to reclaim the lead during a pair of power plays during the first half of that period, but were unable to beat New Jersey goalie Jonathan Bernier.
"At that point in the game, it's a huge turning point," Crosby said. "We had some good looks. Unfortunately, it didn't go in. I think we did everything but score on those two, for sure."
Fair enough, but the Penguins didn't do enough things well -- or do them often enough -- to squeeze even a point out of a young team that is a long shot to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs this season.
They will have a few more chances to do that this winter, just as Crosby will have lots of opportunities to get his game back to the level he expects of himself.
So while he appreciated not spending a game night in street clothes for the first time this season, it was not a wholly satisfying -- or satisfactory -- experience.
"It's nice to be back," Crosby said. "I love being back out there with the guys. But ultimately, you want to win and play well, and that didn't happen tonight."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Top-six wingers Jake Guentzel and Kasperi Kapanen have combined for one goal (by Guentzel) in 15 man-games this season, but Sullivan refrained from criticizing their lack of production. "It's not on any one individual," he said. "We're all trying to help one another capture their very best game."
• Remember when penalty-killing was a major problem for the Penguins? You know, like last season? Well, it's worth noting that after snuffing both of New Jersey's chances with the man-advantage, the Penguins have the top-rated shorthanded unit in the NHL, with a success rate of 94.7 percent. They have allowed one goal in 19 shorthanded situations.
• Carter fared pretty well in his first game back, recording four shots on goal and controlling 14 of 20 faceoffs.
• Jusso Riikola, in his first appearance of the season, set up Heinen's goal at 12:23 of the opening period by taking the puck to the net, then tossing a backhand pass toward the slot. The assist was Riikola's first point since Jan. 12, 2020, when he got an assist at Arizona.
• Zach Aston-Reese had a game-leading six hits, giving him 34 in six games.
• Teddy Blueger had a nice assist on McGinn's goal, fighting off Devils defenseman Damon Severson behind the goal line, then swiping a pass to McGinn in front of the net while falling to the ice.
• The loss ended a run of five consecutive regular-season victories for the Penguins against the Devils. They never have beaten New Jersey six in a row.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Andreas Johnsson, Devils
2. Jesper Bratt, Devils
3. Jimmy Vesey, Devils
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Evgeni Malkin is expected to be out until at least December after undergoing knee surgery. He has resumed skating.
• Bryan Rust is listed as "week-to-week" with an unspecified lower-body injury. He has been having on-ice workouts with skills coach Ty Hennes.
• Kris Letang tested positive for COVID-19 and is in the COVID protocol.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel–Sidney Crosby–Evan Rodrigues
Jason Zucker–Jeff Carter–Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Aston-Reese–Teddy Blueger–Brock McGinn
Drew O’Connor–Brian Boyle-Danton Heinen
Brian Dumoulin–John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
Marcus Pettersson-Juuso Riikola
And for Lindy Ruff's Devils:
Pavel Zacha-Nico Hischier-Tomas Tatar
Andreas Johnsson-Dawson Mercer-Jesper Bratt
Yegor Sharangovich-Michael McLeod-Jimmy Vesey
Janne Kuokkanen-Frederik Gauthier-Marian Studenic
Ryan Graves-Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler-P.K. Subban
Ty Smith-Damon Severson
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will be off Sunday, then practice Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
THE CONTENT
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