Crosby, Letang lead Metro to All-Star win
The Penguins captain earns MVP honors
When Crosby arrived at the rink this afternoon, many of his teammates checked to make sure that he would be able to dress after missing All-Star Skills on Friday due to illness, and they were relieved when he responded in the affirmative.
And in typical Crosby fashion, he went from being sick to turning in a sick performance, finishing with four goals and eight points between the two games as the Metropolitan Division won the 3-on-3 tournament.
"At the end of my bye week, I was feeling sick and didn't really leave the hotel room for a couple days," Crosby said. "I was just excited to be able to get out there, get out of the room and exercise a bit. Once I got out there, I felt better than I thought.
"This morning I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, but I felt a lot better than I expected. To be honest, it was just nice to be out there. The last few days have been pretty long. It was fun to get out with the guys."
And according to Penguins teammate and fellow All-Star Kris Letang - who was also brilliant all night, chipping in five points (2G-3A) of his own - Crosby probably could've finished with even more points.
"Maybe he's still sick. He could've had like, 10 goals tonight," Letang said with a laugh. "I don't know. But that's how special he is."
For his efforts, Crosby was named MVP - earning a 2019 Honda Passport Elite vehicle while checking another accomplishment off his list, as that was one of few awards he hadn't won prior to tonight.
He became the sixth NHL player to capture All-Star MVP, Hart Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy honors throughout his career, joining Jean Beliveau, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Joe Sakic. Coincidentally, SAP Center was the site of Crosby's first Conn Smythe Trophy award after the Penguins defeated the Sharks in Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.
"You play in it, you watch as a kid growing up and you see that presentation - it's pretty cool," Crosby said. "I had a lot of fun today. Didn't need to win the car in order to have a good time, but it's certainly fun."
In their first game, a 7-4 win over the Atlantic, Crosby scored twice and added a helper while Letang finished with one goal and one assist. In their second game, a 10-5 win over the Central in the championship, Crosby totaled five points (2G-3A) while Letang had three (1G-2A). It was quite the statement from the two veterans, who showed the league that despite the current youth movement, their competitive fire still burns and they're not even close to being done dominating.
"We still have some stuff to prove," Letang said with a smile. "We don't want to end up just watching them. We want to be part of it."
Letang said they did use their age to their advantage, telling Capitals head coach Todd Reirden - who was behind the bench for the Metro - that they wanted some "young legs" with them coming off their bye week. So the two of them played with Islanders forward Mathew Barzal - the reigning Calder Trophy winner - and the trio had terrific chemistry out there.
"We had some fun," Letang said. "Obviously it's always good when you have a guy on the same team as you, you already have a chemistry going. And we added a tremendous player with Mathew. He was just skating everywhere, carrying the puck. So I was just staying back making sure that nothing happened behind us."
Reirden, who spent four seasons as an assistant in Pittsburgh, knew that a player like Barzal would be a perfect fit alongside Crosby.
"That one I felt pretty comfortable with, being a part of coaching Sidney for four years," Reirden said. "I know what type of player he likes and works best with. For me, Barzal fit that to a T. I mentioned it to Letang yesterday and he was like 'oh, Sid's going to like that a lot.' That worked out well and we had some jokes about it."
Crosby didn't have any complaints, that's for sure.
"When you're playing with guys who skate like those two do - especially with Tanger, he's so poised with the puck and he skates so well - it's hard to defend that at any point, but especially 3-on-3," he said.
As a result of the win, the Metropolitan Division All-Stars will split a $1 million prize. While the money is a big bonus, what Crosby and Letang will remember most from the weekend is the chance to spend some time together in a setting like this.
"We're all competitive guys and when we play against each other we want to win," Crosby said. "But we all love the game and we all appreciate being able to spend a weekend competing against one another. I think that's a cool part."
