TORONTO — It was a Saturday with a national Hockey Night in Canada audience and Sidney Crosby was all over the ice at Air Canada Centre.
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain set up Bill Guerin for the opening goal. He turned Maple Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle inside-out before sliding the puck under Jonas Gustavsson for one of his own. And he finished with a game-high eight shots in a 4-1 Penguins victory.
The performance was vintage Crosby, notable mostly for how routine he made it look.
It was Jan. 9, 2010. Believe it or not, that is the last time the world’s best hockey player had the opportunity to play in Toronto.
For Crosby, it must feel like a lifetime ago — it came before the Golden Goal at the Vancouver Olympics, before the mind-boggling 25-game point streak, before the concussion at the Winter Classic, before a trying two-year recovery period and before his rise back to the top of the NHL’s scoring charts.
A lot can happen in 38 months, eh?
With the Penguins scheduled to visit the Leafs twice over the next week (the first coming on Saturday night), Crosby expressed excitement about finally getting another chance to take the ice at ACC.
“I definitely get up for playing there in that atmosphere,” he told reporters on Friday afternoon. “It’s Hockey Night in Canada.”
The Penguins are stepping on that big stage for a second consecutive week, having beaten Montreal 7-6 in a wild overtime game at the Bell Centre last Saturday, and are once again a marquee attraction as a member of the NHL’s elite.
Of particular note for Pittsburgh is the fact Crosby finally appears to have put his concussion and neck issues behind him. The captain has surged to a four-point lead over Steven Stamkos in the scoring race thanks to a ridiculous stretch that has seen him register at least three points in eight of Pittsburgh’s last 17 games.
Think about that for a moment.
There is simply no one better when No. 87 is performing at that level. Interestingly, Penguins winger Chris Kunitz also finds himself in uncharted territory near the top of the scoring list while playing on a unit with Crosby and Pascal Dupuis.
It probably isn’t a coincidence that all three of those players spent the lockout in Pittsburgh and skated together at the Penguins practice facility a few times per week throughout the fall and early winter.
Save for the recent stretch when No. 2 centre Evgeni Malkin was briefly sidelined with a concussion, these have been refreshing times in Pittsburgh. Gone are the endless questions about Crosby’s health and his absence from the team.
The focus instead has simply been on the organization’s continue pursuit of the Stanley Cup — one that will likely see it be an active player at next month’s trade deadline.
Even Crosby has been able to return to a familiar place.
“I just think he’s back to being the normal Sidney Crosby,” Penguins GM Ray Shero told sportsnet.ca earlier this season. “He’s thinking about everything else except his health. He’s thinking about the team, he’s thinking about how he can be better, how he’s training, how we can improve this or that. Now it’s back to normal, which has been awhile.
“That is really something that we haven’t had for a long time.”
With that in mind, it’s reasonable to expect another excellent performance from Crosby when he returns to the ACC. He’s enjoyed a tremendous amount of success against the Leafs since entering the NHL in 2005, scoring 18 goals and 37 points in just 23 games.
However, the Penguins won’t be taking anything for granted when the puck drops on Saturday night. History has taught them to approach the Leafs with caution.
Toronto always tends to play well against Pittsburgh and was full value for a 5-2 victory in January in the home opener at Consol Energy Center — the only previous meeting between the teams this season.
“They are playing really well,” Crosby said of the Leafs. “They’re just so fast. They came at us hard last game. It should be a good one.”
One that is long overdue for Crosby.