After sluggish start, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby is in 'a way different place'

It might have been the best indicator as to how late of a start Sidney Crosby has had to the 2021-22 campaign.

Not so much as it pertains to when he first started games this season. But when he started to make a true impact on the ice.

During the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-2 thumping of the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, the Penguins’ captain drew a penalty at 5:55 of the second period.

Entering the offensive zone on the left wing, he shifted into third gear, cut to the inside and forced Canadiens defenseman Cale Klague to jab his left skate with his stick. Crosby tumbled to the ice, and referee Kendrick Nicholson raised his left arm, blew his whistle then signaled a tripping penalty.

Throughout his non-pareil career, Crosby has forced many an opponent to trip, hook and hold him in hopes of impeding his offensive intentions. In fact, since the NHL first began the statistic in 2009-10, Crosby has drawn 257 penalties, second only on the Penguins in that span to forward Evgeni Malkin (331).

The penalty he drew Tuesday? It was his first this season. And it’s almost Christmas.

Add in two primary assists on goals by defensemen Mike Matheson and Brian Dumoulin as well as a strong effort in the faceoff circle — 12 for 21 (57%) — and it was arguably one of Crosby’s best games of the season, admittedly among few candidates for that designation.

Sidelined for the first seven games of the season following offseason wrist surgery, then waylaid for another five contests after testing positive for covid-19, Crosby has eased his way past a slow start.

After collecting only two points (one goal, one assist) in his first six games of the season, Crosby has shaken off most of his rink rust and has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 16 games.

Averaging more than a point per game would suggest he’s at or near a level commensurate with the lofty standards fairly expected of and by him.

“I feel better timing-wise,” Crosby said following Tuesday’s win. “There’s a lot more chances there. If I had to evaluate it, I would just like to bury a few more. Besides that, I think as far as generating chances and timing and that sort of thing, I was a lot more comfortable than I was starting out.”

As Crosby suggested, scoring more goals (as opposed to creating opportunities for teammates) would be a nice way to round out his otherwise productive contributions as of late.

He certainly didn’t lack chances Tuesday. With the benefit of six power-play opportunities against one of the NHL’s worst teams, Crosby recorded six shots on seven attempts.

“Sometimes, that’s not easy to do,” Crosby said. “Going to the net doesn’t hurt. Usually, there’s going to be pucks there no matter how things are going. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find some of those loose ones. Ones have hit the post or crossbar. I missed two pretty easy empty nets in (a 4-2 road win against the Washington Capitals on Friday). That’s the way it goes sometimes. But the chances are there. You just try to keep doing those things you know have given you success in the past.”

An area Crosby routinely has excelled at is in the faceoff circle. Yet, even that staple of his game was a struggle early. In his first nine games of the season, Crosby won only 40.8% of his draws (64 for 157).

Over his past seven games, Crosby’s success in the dot has improved as he has claimed 58.7% (84 for 153) of the faceoffs he has taken.

“Every faceoff is so important,” Crosby said. “Just the timing and that sort of thing, the comfort level, that’s all gotten better. Just probably more to do with the (repetitions), but I think when you kind of start out like that and struggle, you probably focus on it a little bit more, too.”

It might be a bit premature to say Crosby is all the way back to the form that has made him the dominant entity he has been for more than a decade and a half. But it’s probably fair — if not accurate — to say he’s in a much better realm than he was at the start of his season.

“He’s in a way different place,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I can see it every night, just his game coming. It just gets better and better. He’s all over the puck. His command of the puck in the offensive zone, I thought, (Tuesday) was really good. (His line) had some extended offensive zone shifts. For me, that’s an indication of Sid’s game being at its best. I don’t think there’s anybody better that protects pucks and creates offense from below the goal line than him. He’s doing more and more of that with every game that he plays.

“He’s in a very different place.”

Follow the Penguins all season long.