PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – His first game this season not until October 30th because of off-season surgery and he would struggle as a minus three against the Devils. Sidney Crosby now seems to have shaken off some of the early rust. He's making plays resembling the captain the Pens have counted on for a decade and a half.
With a pair of assists on Tuesday, Crosby now has points in eight of his last nine games. Four of the last five are multiple point nights jumping him into the top 15 all-time in that category.
"I think he's in a way different place," said Pens head coach Mike Sullivan. "I can see it every night, just his game coming. It just gets better and better. He's all over the puck. His command of the puck in the offensive zone (Tuesday) was really good. They had some extended offensive zone shifts. To me, that's an indication of Sid's game being at his best."
"I feel better timing-wise," Crosby said. "There's a lot more chances there. I would like to bury a few more. I think besides that, starting to generate chances and timing, it's a lot more comfortable than it was starting out."
Crosby said he's just going to the net because usually there are pucks there no matter how things are going. Through 15 games, only four goals, but now over a point a game. There have been opportunities for more points, but as Crosby stated, he hasn't buried some opportunities.
"Unfortunately, haven't been able to find some of those loose ones," Crosby said. "The ones that have, hit the post or cross-bar. I missed two pretty easy empty nets in Washington."
"It's the way it goes some times. The chances are there, you just try to keep doing those things you know have given you success in the past."
"I don't think there is anybody better that protects pucks and creates offense from below the goal line than him," Sullivan said. "I think he's doing more and more of that with every game that he plays."
Crosby not only struggled early on scoring and creating chances for his line. He wasn't winning faceoffs. Over the first nine games, Crosby finished over 50% on faceoffs, once. In the last six games, Crosby is over 50% in every one and over 60% in four of them.
"I feel better," Crosby said. "I think I'm getting a little bit stronger and more confident. To go from basically taking none to jumping into a game. There is a lot on the line on every faceoff. I think the timing and that sort of thing has all gotten better. Probably more to do with the reps, I think when you start out like that and struggle, you probably focus on that more too."
His return has also impacted the team where it really matters, wins and losses. Pens lost Crosby's first three games, they have a pair of five-game winning streaks since then, 10-3 overall with one of the losses in a shootout.
"I think we rely a lot on our work ethic," Crosby said of this team. "I think that's one thing that you've seen. We check really well, we have speed. When we play that way, we are tough to play against. We don't give up a lot, for that reason, it translates into wins."
"If we are not playing like that, things change pretty quickly. I think it's good to get rewarded for playing the way we feel like can give us success, but there's always been some times where we've gotten away from that and we are a much different team. Building on that and having the confidence to know that if we play the right way, we give ourselves a chance."
Sullivan said Crosby is in a different place than he was early in the season, not coincidently so is his hockey team.
