PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby was one period away from seeing his goal drought become the longest of his playoff career.
Enough was enough.
A close viewing of his play revealed that the Pittsburgh Penguins captain was making a positive impact on the games, but needed a shot in the arm to get back on the scoresheet. Recognizing this, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan decided to staple rookie Conor Sheary to the bench in the third period and elevate Chris Kunitz back to the left side of a line with Crosby and Patric Hornqvist.
Voila, it worked. Series tied.
“I was just trying to create a little bit of a spark with those guys,” Sullivan explained after Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win. “Sid has had some success with Kuni and Horny for a lot of this regular season, and I thought I would try to go back to that and see how it went.”
They absolutely dominated the final period against Tampa before Crosby ended Monday’s game with an overtime winner 40 seconds into overtime. He registered four shots over the final 20 minutes of the game and it felt like just a matter of time before he broke through.
The winner came in the middle of a Pittsburgh line change and saw Crosby holler for a pass from Bryan Rust. He beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy high over the blocker with a perfectly placed shot for the first overtime goal of his Stanley Cup playoff career.
“That’s a huge goal for our team and it was the perfect player to get it, too,” said Hornqvist. “You guys (the media) are all over him and I think he’s top-five in scoring in the playoffs. Now he got the big one – the biggest one of the year – and we’ll see what happens.”
Crosby is actually tied for 12th with 12 points, but his point is well made. Reports of Crosby’s demise have been greatly overstated in a market where he’s basically expected to score every night.
In recent games, the Penguins were reminded that your strengths could occasionally be a weakness.
They wouldn’t have made it this far if not for the depth they’ve got spread across their forward lines, but a reluctance to load up one of those units has also left Crosby and Evgeni Malkin twisting somewhat in the wind at five-on-five.
Sheary, in particular, struggled to make plays on Monday and didn’t receive a single shift after the second intermission. He had been skating with Crosby and Hornqvist since early in a first-round series against the New York Rangers.
At one point during the second period of Game 2 against the Lightning, Sullivan gave Crosby a shift with Malkin. The Russian promptly set him up with a glorious backhand chance where Vasilevskiy left half of the net open but somehow recovered to get a glove on the shot.
Early in the third period, Crosby had a dangerous look from in close that hit the shaft of Vasilevskiy’s stick and stayed out.
He hadn’t scored in the last eight games – matching a career-worst drought from the 2014 playoffs – but his confidence remained. The overtime shift that produced his winner might have been the best he’s had all spring.
“I wasn’t happy (with not scoring), but I think that the big thing was there were some really good chances there,” said Crosby. “The backhand, half the net, he made a great save. One hits the knob (of his stick). I think with chances like that, you’re encouraged you’re getting them.
“That gives you a good mindset when you’re getting those chances, that eventually something’s going to go in, and you’ve just got to trust that it will.”
It will go down as one of the most important goals he’s ever scored, especially if the Penguins manage to win this series and advance to the Stanley Cup Final. It’s obviously not on the level of those he had for Team Canada in the Olympic gold-medal games in 2010 and 2014, but it’s difficult to imagine a bigger goal from his NHL career.
The Penguins, after all, could ill-afford to go down 0-2 on home ice against the Lightning, especially after controlling wide swaths of play in Game 2.
They outshot Tampa 19-6 from the second intermission on.
“It felt like we were the better team in the third period,” said Hornqvist. “We were all over them.”
They came in waves but the Vasilevskiy Dam left the Lightning just one shot away from stealing a victory. Pittsburgh was flirting with disaster.
Despite the stakes, Crosby felt that his teammates kept the right mindset as the tension rose late in the game. He made no mistake when Rust dropped a pass to the perfect spot.
“The best – it is so great to see him score,” said Penguins defenceman Ben Lovejoy. “He, rightfully so, judges his game on filling the net. And we know they’re going to come. They always do. He’s playing great hockey and that was a huge goal tonight.”
It’s the one special players always find a way to score.
