Make no mistake about it–Sid the Kid is back.
On his third shift in his first game back, Penguins’ F Sidney Crosby put a defender on his back, and with one hand on the stick, controlled the puck and went backhand-shelf on rookie G Anders Nilsson. Absolutely awesome. Even more awesome was Crosby’s goal celebration, where he leaned back on one foot, pumped both fists and screamed “fuck yeah!”
“I saw for a few seconds they were a little flat-footed. I was able to get some good speed built up when I got it. I knew I had a chance to go wide.”
“Hopefully everyone wasn’t reading lips at home.”
Crosby played in his first game on Monday since January 5 after taking a pair of headshots in as many games to start the 2011 calendar year. A 61-game span (68 including the playoffs) where Crosby hadn’t faced NHL-calibre competition, Crosby unloaded 10 months of anger, frustration and anticipation by scoring his first goal in 328 days, recording two goals and two assists in a 5-0 win over the Islanders. Crosby was also plus-3, took eight shots and went 14-for-21 on faceoffs in 15:54 of ice time.
Prior to the injury, the 24-year-old was on pace for career-highs all across the board–32 goals and 66 points though 41 games, the best season the NHL had seen since the 1990s. There was no chance he would pick up exactly where he left off, was there?
He didn’t even miss a beat.
Although he played just 16 minutes in the game–not a bad number to record, but (logically) down from his usual time–Crosby put to rest any doubts that the Crosby of old was dead and gone after a lengthy absence from hockey. Can he take a hit? Can he still move? Is he the Crosby of old, or just another concussion waiting to happen?
Well, at least after one game, the answer is an astounding ‘yes.’
“I don’t really have good words for it. That was a special in a lot of ways,” said head coach Dan Bylsma.
It’s amazing how time flies, isn’t it? Last night, the Consol Energy Center erupted when Crosby scored his first goal of the season. Yet, just two-and-a-half months earlier, Crosby sat between medical experts. One told him that his vestibular system was damaged due to his concussion, while the other essentially said that Crosby was no longer able to match his body with his hands on the ice. Everyone asked themselves if he would ever play another NHL game.
None of that mattered now. 320 days later, Crosby was looking like the Crosby of old, and all it took was 5:24 of a game and one shift. One the Crosby timeline of memories, it ranks right up there with his 2008 Winter Classic game-winner and his Golden Goal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. This one will be called the Comeback Goal.
Crosby’s first hit came at the hands of Islanders’ D Travis Harmonic, who knocked Crosby to the ground in the first period.
“Did I know who it was? Yeah. I thought it was just an opportunity to be hard on someone and, you know, that’s all it was and just got caught out there battling,” said Harmonic.
Crosby, unfazed, popped right back up as the NHL collectively held their breath.
“I was mad at myself for putting myself in that position. (But) I’m glad I kind of got that over with too early on. There’s going to be more hits and probably harder ones.”
“To come out of that OK, I think it gives you some reassurance. I don’t think I needed it, but it’s always good in this process to get a couple of those out of the way early.”
Regardless, what we saw was the old, confident Crosby. He took hits down low in the corner, roughed it up in front of the net and took abuse behind the net while trying to win the puck.
The Pens really couldn’t have picked a better opponent than the Islanders Monday night–Crosby has four goals and 12 assists in his last six home games against the Isles, all resulting in Pens’ victories. Of note, it was Crosby’s 21st career game with four or more points, with six of them coming against Long Island. In 34 career games against the Isles, Crosby has 20 goals and 66 points. With his assist on F Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal in the second period, that makes 22 career power play assists against the Islanders, the most versus any other NHL team.
With the four-point night Crosby closed to within 11 points (and just five goals) of Capitals’ F Alex Ovechkin’s season total over 19 games in just his first game of the season. Over Crosby’s last 82 regular season games, his points-per-game sits at 1.60, putting him on pace for 99 points this season. If anyone has any withstanding doubts, put them to rest–Ovechkin is not the best player in the league. Not by a long shot.
And how’s this for a points jump? With zero points prior to last night’s game, Crosby sat tied for 602nd in the NHL. His four-point outburst propelled him to a tie in 359th, a gain of 243 spots. In one night.
Bylsma also wanted the world to know that November 21 was not a pre-set date for Crosby’s return:
“If anyone thought it was a predetermined date, my wife gave away the tickets to this game two days ago, so my family doesn’t have tickets to tonight’s game.”
Epic comebacks are nothing new in Pittsburgh, though. The biggest one in their franchise’s history belongs to NHL legend Mario Lemieux, who came back from back surgery and a battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. On December 27, 2000, Super Mario came back from retirement and recorded an assist in his first shift, resulting in a three-point night, against the Leafs.
When Lemieux returned from back surgery in 1990-91, the old Igloo was covered in “Mario” signs in the stands. Last night, the Penguins had thousands of signs printed overnight reading “Welcome Back SID.” As Crosby was introduced in the starting lineup, a roar of “Cros-by” chants erupted.
“It was amazing. I expected people to be loud, but that was far beyond what I expected and pretty amazing and pretty special.”
“I think that it’s a relief, but it’s not time to start gliding now. It’s time to get going.”
Truth be told, Crosby was likely just jacked on adrenaline. Many athletes come back from a series of injuries, excel briefly, then nosedive before slowly getting back to speed. We won’t truly know how well Crosby has progressed until a few weeks or months from now. It’s simply too early to tell. Crosby’s injury was not a commonplace concussion, as experts called “a very complicated, convoluted, cryptic thing to go through.” Looking back, it took almost 11 months for Crosby’s medical team to feel confident and comfortable enough to finally clear him to play in an NHL game. It would be an absolute shame if Crosby, the face of the NHL and the best player of this generation, were to be set back by another concussion.
Ultimately, we can’t judge his comeback based off one game, even if it is comparable to Lemieux’s comeback. Crosby, who is still just 24, has a long career ahead of him. Watching him play on Monday night, however, proves that the rules can be bent in specific circumstances–what normal hockey players go through may not be what Crosby has to go through.
For argument’s sake, let’s say Crosby maintains a high scoring pace. Can he catch the league leaders? Lemieux missed two months of the 1992-93 season while undergoing radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. When he returned, he was 12 points behind F Pat LaFontaine in the NHL scoring race. He ended up winning the scoring title, beating out LaFontaine by 12 points. Crosby sits 25 points behind Leafs’ F Phil Kessel. Can Crosby do the same?
Lost in all this was the Penguins’ stellar play without their captain–over Crosby’s 61 regular-season games on the sidelines, Pittsburgh went 34-19-8. Many of those games were without F Evgeni Malkin and F Jordan Staal as well. But the sold play of both Malkin and Staal, combined with F James Neal’s great play, D Kris Letang’s stability on the blueline and G Marc-Andre Fleury’s excellent season in net, this team is as good as ever.
There’s no doubt about it: this team is deep enough to win without Crosby in the lineup. They’re just the best team in the league with him in it.
At least through his first game, Crosby showed the potential he’s displayed throughout his entire career–incredible speed, strength, excellent vision and split-second decision making. There could be no better way for Crosby to mark a stamp on his return than the incredible performance put on display last night. Make no mistake about it…
He’s back.