It was the perfect storybook return for Sidney Crosby. He was flying all over the ice. He had two goals and two assists. He took a few bumps. Nothing could have been better (except maybe if he had been able to finish the hat trick).
The rest of the team was also really good. Michalek stepped back into the lineup and played almost 20 minutes. Paul Martin, Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik were solid. Jordan Staal led all forwards with just over 20 minutes on the ice. Geno had a goal and an assist. Dupuis had three assists.
One thing to remember - the competition was really bad tonight. The Isles had 29 shots, but only a few legitimate scoring chances.
Who scored?
Crosby (1, 2), Orpik (2), Malkin (6), Sullivan (2)
The Good?
- Flower made several really nice saves to keep the shutout.
- Sid showed us what we've been missing.
- Balanced ice time for everyone (which, in fairness, is easy to do when you're winning by four going into the third period).
- This was the best team performance of the season, no doubt.
The Bad?
- Maybe you can nitpick and say that the Pens lost focus a bit by taking three penalties in the second half of the third period.
The Ugly?
- The Isles. They didn't help their goalie (who wasn't all that great), and they didn't come back at the Pens with any intensity. The only player that stood out was Tavares, and that wasn't until the game was pretty much over.
Any Surprises?
- The Isles out hit the Pens 31-12 tonight. It really didn't feel that way when watching the game...
What's their record now?
The Pens are 12-6-3.
Who's next?
The Blues are coming to Consol on Wednesday night.
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