Crosby ‘Sizzles’, Penguins Win Second Straight
On a night that featured another milestone for the Pittsburgh Penguins, their best player – for the second game in a row – came through in the clutch.
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Captain Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the second game in a row, leading the Penguins to victory over the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, and securing a win for defenseman Kris Letang’s 1,100th game.
Forward Blake Lizotte, playing in his second game in a Penguins’ uniform after missing the team’s first 10 games with a concussion, added an empty-net goal at the end to seal the deal. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves on 26 Montreal shots.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s game:
– Crosby’s first snipe was gorgeous, and it’s nice to see the captain getting hot over these last couple of games. But Rickard Rakell deserves a lot of credit for making that play happen.
The puck was dumped behind and around Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault, and Rakell hustled to the corner and won a puck battle along the boards. He then turned around and fired a pass between the legs of Alex Newhook and onto Crosby’s stick.
Just an outstanding instance of hustle and strong board play by Rakell. He wins a lot of puck battles and has an ability to create “something out of nothing,” as head coach Mike Sullivan has alluded to. That acceleration and speed training he did over the summer really paid off here as well.
Crosby had high praise for his teammate as well.
“‘Raks’ is really strong on the puck,” Crosby said. “On that play, he strips the guy, and I think he’s done a great job of finding those soft spots to get shots off and use his shot that way, but then also, he’s been really strong on pucks, holding onto it, and making plays. We’re doing a good job of reading off of each other and generating some good looks because of it.”
I feel like I’m repeating myself, but Rakell has been very, very good for the Penguins this season.
– As far as Crosby is concerned, I’m not sure…
