There wouldn't have been a worse setting for Sidney Crosby to achieve a significant career milestone than this game ... so it's surely just as well that he didn't.
He recorded one assist ...
... on this late Bryan Rust goal that accounted for the final score in the Penguins' 6-1 loss to the Lightning here at Amalie Arena, and it's no accident that no arms were raised. No one, including the captain, seemed in much of a mood afterward for anything other than self-criticism.
Still, he's now one point shy of 80, which would clinch his NHL-record 20th point-per-game season, one more than Wayne Gretzky. That can now occur Thursday night against the Sabres in Buffalo, N.Y.
Sid's parents, Troy and Trina, are traveling to be with him once the mark's achieved, and I'm sure they'll be amenable to adding another leg.
• Evgeni Malkin was scratched the Penguins' game tonight against the Lightning because of an undisclosed upper-body injury, this after having participated in the morning skate.
All Mike Sullivan would say to the issue was that he's "being evaluated."
Kevin Hayes took his place on the second line, Emil Bemstrom his place in the lineup.
• Matt Grzelcyk was drilled into the Pittsburgh end boards on the opening shift of the second period by Brandon Hagel -- totally clean, by the way -- and was down for a while but continued without missing a shift.
• Sullivan tore into the team at the morning skate, stopping the session to admonish them to try a heck of a lot harder. He downplayed that after the game, though, saying, "My experience of being around this game is that it's very difficult to read into a morning skate. But having said that, obviously, we weren't pleased with the focus or the execution."
• Sid did make a connection, though, when I brought it up:
"I think it's just more making sure we know we're crisp in the morning preparing," he'd say of Sullivan's response. "We weren't good enough in the morning skate, and I think that's why we saw the reaction we saw from him. For good reason. You want to prepare the right way, especially when we don't have a great practice this morning, and follow it up like this. It's not acceptable."
• The full Sullivan media gathering, including when I asked how this game happened after several weeks of it not happening:
"I don't have an answer for you," he'd reply. "This team has played hard for a lot of games here. I thought we came out with the right intentions in the first period, but when you get down that many goals early, it's a tough mountain to climb, especially against a team like that."
• That's five goals in the past six games for Rust, by the way.
• There's a practice scheduled for today, 11:30 a.m., here at the TGH Iceplex. Should be a hoot.
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
12:02 am - 03.26.2025Tampa, Fla.Loose Pucks: Sid's a point away
There wouldn't have been a worse setting for Sidney Crosby to achieve a significant career milestone than this game ... so it's surely just as well that he didn't.
He recorded one assist ...
... on this late Bryan Rust goal that accounted for the final score in the Penguins' 6-1 loss to the Lightning here at Amalie Arena, and it's no accident that no arms were raised. No one, including the captain, seemed in much of a mood afterward for anything other than self-criticism.
Still, he's now one point shy of 80, which would clinch his NHL-record 20th point-per-game season, one more than Wayne Gretzky. That can now occur Thursday night against the Sabres in Buffalo, N.Y.
Sid's parents, Troy and Trina, are traveling to be with him once the mark's achieved, and I'm sure they'll be amenable to adding another leg.
• Evgeni Malkin was scratched the Penguins' game tonight against the Lightning because of an undisclosed upper-body injury, this after having participated in the morning skate.
All Mike Sullivan would say to the issue was that he's "being evaluated."
Kevin Hayes took his place on the second line, Emil Bemstrom his place in the lineup.
• Matt Grzelcyk was drilled into the Pittsburgh end boards on the opening shift of the second period by Brandon Hagel -- totally clean, by the way -- and was down for a while but continued without missing a shift.
• Sullivan tore into the team at the morning skate, stopping the session to admonish them to try a heck of a lot harder. He downplayed that after the game, though, saying, "My experience of being around this game is that it's very difficult to read into a morning skate. But having said that, obviously, we weren't pleased with the focus or the execution."
• Sid did make a connection, though, when I brought it up:
"I think it's just more making sure we know we're crisp in the morning preparing," he'd say of Sullivan's response. "We weren't good enough in the morning skate, and I think that's why we saw the reaction we saw from him. For good reason. You want to prepare the right way, especially when we don't have a great practice this morning, and follow it up like this. It's not acceptable."
• The full Sullivan media gathering, including when I asked how this game happened after several weeks of it not happening:
"I don't have an answer for you," he'd reply. "This team has played hard for a lot of games here. I thought we came out with the right intentions in the first period, but when you get down that many goals early, it's a tough mountain to climb, especially against a team like that."
• That's five goals in the past six games for Rust, by the way.
• There's a practice scheduled for today, 11:30 a.m., here at the TGH Iceplex. Should be a hoot.
• And hey, check all the pics I snapped here!
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!