Sidney Crosby dances by Brad Stuart in a 3-2 Penguins triumph on Wednesday. (Frank Gunn/Associated Press)Sidney Crosby showed in Game 3 why he is the reigning Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy holder. Now the Pittsburgh Penguins need an encore performance from the 20-year-old captain.
Crosby was simply brilliant Wednesday night as Pittsburgh clipped the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 and trimmed its deficit in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final to 2-1.
"There is no doubt you're looking for your best player to bring his 'A' game — and certainly Sid did that," Penguins head coach Michel Therrien said.
Game 4 goes Saturday at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, (CBC, 8 p.m. ET), where the hometown Penguins remain unbeaten (9-0) in the playoffs and where Crosby bears the burden of high expectations, especially in the final.
"It is pretty much everything I expected," he said. "I tried not to think about it coming in and just tried to prepare the same way.
"It is a big stage and you could expect that. What I take out of the whole experience down the road, I will tell you after the series."
"This is his first experience in a Stanley Cup final," Therrien said. "I'm sure it is going to help him for the rest of his career."
Crosby is no stranger to scrutiny, having been labelled a teenage wunderkind in junior hockey and inheriting Mario Lemieux's mantle the moment he was drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in 2005.
But the kid from Cole Harbour, N.S., has competed from the get-go in the final, playing with a creative flair and combative spirit that has impressed the Red Wings as much as it has inspired the Penguins.
"He is a really strong skater and he is good at protecting the puck," said Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, a five-time Norris Trophy winner as defenceman of the year.
"He can draw two players to him and use that to find openings for his teammates. He is a great all-around player."
Crosby was blanked in the first two games, but he was, without question, Pittsburgh's top forward with nine shots on goal.
Pittsburgh had failed to score in the series until Crosby pounced on a turnover, played give-and-go with Marian Hossa and squirted the puck between Red Wings netminder Chris Osgood's pads 17:25 into the first period of Game 3.
It was Pittsburgh's first goal in 153 minutes 22 seconds.
'Tough checking'
After Crosby hit the crossbar with a rising shot in the opening minute of the second period, he put the Penguins ahead 2-0 with a power-play goal at the 2:34 mark.
Evgeni Malkin took a slapshot that stung Osgood, and though he shook it off in time to kick out Hossa's shot, he could not to prevent Crosby from whisking in the rebound at the left post.
"It is tough checking," Crosby said. "I just have to make sure that, when I get chances, I capitalize on them.
"They [the Red Wings] pressure a lot and, sometimes, you get caught thinking you have less time than you do to make plays. It is a matter of reading the play and reacting right."
And leaving the Red Wings wondering what he will do for an encore.
"We have seen situations like this before, where you want to get that third win, you want to get a good push [and], for whatever reason, the other team comes out and plays real well," Lidstrom said. "We had a pretty good game, too, but they ended up on top.
"We know that we have got to get back to playing the way we can and put this game behind us and take the good things with us."
"I don't think the rink was tilted or we weren't in the game," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. "We gave up 24 shots and lost on the road.
"We're a pretty confident group. We like our team.
"We like how we play. We thought they played better [Wednesday] night.
"We think they will play better again. We think we have to be better."
With files from the Canadian Press
