Slowing down the Penguins' No. 87, though, will be easier said than done - and the Canadiens acknowledged that following the morning skate. It really is going to take a solid group effort in order to keep the finest sharpshooter in the game from making his presence felt on the scoresheet on Saturday night.
"It's fun to watch and see the stuff he does, but it's also a great challenge trying to shut down the best player in the world, especially when he's playing the way he is right now. We know that we've got our hands full," admitted captain Max Pacioretty, who leads the Canadiens with 15 goals on the season. "We know we have a good group over here. It's not going to take one guy. It's a group effort. We like the way we've been competing. It's up to us to play 60 minutes like that."
- Pacioretty also shared his thoughts on why Crosby continues to be particularly tough to stop. It seems like there really isn't a playbook of sorts teams can turn to in order to figure him out and get him off his game. According to the Canadiens' No. 67, Crosby's dedication to his craft and overall ingenuity has a lot to do with his unparalleled success.
"You think it would be easier to shut guys down as the year goes on, but he's a player that obviously wants to get better every year and in the offseason. People talk a lot about different players and what they do in the offseason and he works on his game a lot. I know that's what you have to do now to be dominant year after year because the game changes, people adapt," explained Pacioretty. "It seems like he'll come up with certain types of plays that people end up copying and then he creates new stuff year after year. We hope that's not the case tonight."
