Sidney Crosby said on Wednesday morning that Evgeni Malkin "set the bar high" for a performance in a return game, referencing his two-goal game on Monday in Denver
Crosby did pretty well himself in the Penguins' 6-5 overtime loss to the Hurricanes, his first game in over a month after suffering a sprained MCL in the Olympics.
Crosby nearly scored on his very first shift, batting a rebound attempt out of mid-air just outside the crease only 36 seconds into the game, a chance that was stopped by Frederik Andersen. Crosby found the scoresheet for real in the second period, scoring a backhand goal:
Crosby later added a secondary assist on Erik Karlsson's goal that made it 4-4 in the third period. He finished with four shots on five attempts, two hits, a block, and an impressive 12-6 showing in faceoffs.
Dan Muse said that it seemed like Crosby picked up right where he left off.
"(The top line) gets us going there with the first one," Muse said. "A great job just by the line on the forecheck and then the recovery. I thought from there too, they were finding themselves back in the offensive zone quite a bit more there from that point on. I thought he was good. The line was good."
I asked Crosby how he felt physically getting into his first game back, and he said "not bad."
"Definitely some rust," he said. "Just got to find a way to make sure that you adapt as soon as possible. Every game is so big. Coming back at this point in the year, you've got to find a way to get that timing and to make sure that the game is where it needs to be."
THE ASYLUM
Crosby felt 'some rust' in return
Sidney Crosby said on Wednesday morning that Evgeni Malkin "set the bar high" for a performance in a return game, referencing his two-goal game on Monday in Denver
Crosby did pretty well himself in the Penguins' 6-5 overtime loss to the Hurricanes, his first game in over a month after suffering a sprained MCL in the Olympics.
Crosby nearly scored on his very first shift, batting a rebound attempt out of mid-air just outside the crease only 36 seconds into the game, a chance that was stopped by Frederik Andersen. Crosby found the scoresheet for real in the second period, scoring a backhand goal:
Crosby later added a secondary assist on Erik Karlsson's goal that made it 4-4 in the third period. He finished with four shots on five attempts, two hits, a block, and an impressive 12-6 showing in faceoffs.
Dan Muse said that it seemed like Crosby picked up right where he left off.
"(The top line) gets us going there with the first one," Muse said. "A great job just by the line on the forecheck and then the recovery. I thought from there too, they were finding themselves back in the offensive zone quite a bit more there from that point on. I thought he was good. The line was good."
I asked Crosby how he felt physically getting into his first game back, and he said "not bad."
"Definitely some rust," he said. "Just got to find a way to make sure that you adapt as soon as possible. Every game is so big. Coming back at this point in the year, you've got to find a way to get that timing and to make sure that the game is where it needs to be."
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