Snap Shots: Penguins 4, Lightning 3
By
Michelle Crechiolo
Penguins Team Reporter
* Sidney Crosby opened the scoring for the fifth time this season with a vintage goal, his first of two on the night. He picked up a rebound at the blue paint and was knocked to the ground. While in mid-air, Crosby managed to sweep the puck into the net into a tiny open space. Just incredible. That's the fifth time this season Crosby has opened the scoring for Pittsburgh, and he continues to set the tone for his team with his terrific play.
* A scary moment occurred a couple of shifts after Crosby's goal when he was checked into the boards from behind by Lightning defenseman Luke Witkowski. Crosby left the game with 4:46 remaining in the first and did not return for the rest of the period. Fortunately, the captain returned to start the second and played the remainder of the game. "Just kind of a stinger," he said afterward. "My neck kind of got jammed and that was basically it."
* After coming back, Crosby took his game to another level (I know, that doesn't seem possible, but trust me, it is) and just seemed to reach another gear on his shifts. He was particularly dominant in the offensive zone when it came to moving and protecting the puck. There was nothing the Lightning could do to slow him down. He now has 20 goals on the season in just 22 games.
* We've been talking a lot about the penalty kill's struggles, but the power play hadn't been much better. It scored just one goal on its last 31 tries in the last eight games heading into tonight. Well, it certainly got it back on track this evening, as the Pens went 3-for-5 on the man-advantage. All three of those came in a row, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. It started in the second period, when Mike Sullivan decided to go with two defensemen on the third opportunity since, as he said with a laugh to me, "The four-forward look didn't do very well." When I asked Crosby how that affected their mindset, this is what he told me…
"We probably thought a little bit less and became a little more instinctive, playing in different spots. Having two D back there allows the forwards just to worry about scoring and making plays and not having to cover back on defense. That might have helped a little bit with our mindset, but when things aren't going great sometimes it just takes a little tweak and you get some momentum like we did."
* Malkin got two of those three power-play goals, moving him into second place on the franchise's all-time list with 111. I was impressed with his game all night, starting with his first shift when he stripped a Bolts player of the puck for a takeaway. Malkin followed that up with a few quality scoring chances at even strength. He finally got rewarded on the man-advantage.
* After the Pens came back and took the lead in the third, the Bolts certainly had their share of chances to tie the score. Their best one came on a crazy sequence that started when a shot from Anton Stralman sneaked through Matt Murray and was sitting in the crease. Justin Schultz saved the day and the goal when he swept it out, but the Bolts regained possession. Valterri Filppula had a WIDE-OPEN net with Murray down and out, but somehow the netminder reached out to glove the puck. "It was a bit of a Chinese fire drill in front of the net," Murray smiled. "I don't know. I think I got pretty lucky, to be honest. He panicked a little bit and he had the whole short side of the net. He was probably just trying to get it off quick so he didn't notice that he had the whole short side and he just kind of threw it kind of far post, almost. Luckily I was over there. Quite a bit of luck on that."
