PHILADELPHIA — The Penguins hadn't even stepped on the ice for pregame warmups before the familiar chant started to reign down from the upper reaches of the Wells Fargo Center. Hint: It wasn't "Let's Go Flyers!"
By the end, what remained of the 19,955 in attendance couldn't even muster a decent "Boo!" — that other sound fickle Philadelphia fans are known for.
Yep, Sidney Crosby sucked all right ... sucked the life right out of the building on Broad and Pattison.
No player has tormented the Flyers and their fans over the years quite like Crosby. But Game 3 might qualify as cruel and unusual, even by his standards.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOX SCOREThe Flyers had absolutely dominated the opening 10 minutes of the first period, but were unable to get a shot past Matt Murray, who turned aside three golden scoring chances to keep the Penguins in the game.
Then at the 10:25 mark, Patric Hornqvist — Crosby's new/old linemate — corralled a Michael Raffl turnover and fed Crosby the puck at the left side of the net. The captain kicked the puck up to his stick and circled behind the Philadelphia net, depositing it behind Brian Elliott on the wraparound:
That goal set in motion a four-point afternoon for Crosby, who added three assists, including a pair of helpers just five seconds apart at 6:48 and 6:53 of the second period to break the game open.
Crosby said he only wished that the Penguins had a better start:
The four-point game matched a career high for the captain in a postseason game, a feat he accomplished twice before, the most "recent" coming eight years ago (April 20, 2010 at Ottawa).
At least publicly, Crosby said it meant little to him that his latest four-point effort came against the Flyers, the team he loves to hate.
"I don’t really think about it a whole lot," he said. "It's intense, it’s a tough environment to come into. We all prepare knowing that."
But Mike Sullivan said it's Crosby's ability to perform his best on the biggest stages in perhaps the most hostile environments that separates him from the rest of the NHL.
"It’s an indication of how competitive he is, he just thrives in that environment," the coach said. "He has a comfort level in that environment. So when the stakes are high and we're in an away building and they're important games, Sid tends to play his best.
"That first goal he got, for example, he has an ability to just stay in the moment. He doesn’t get rattled, he doesn't get fazed by any of the adversity or anything that a high-stakes environment might present to other players. He just thrives on it. And that’s why he’s the elite player that he is and he’s as accomplished as he is."
Needless to say, Crosby made amends in a big way after missing a layup from the side of the net two nights earlier in the Game 2 loss at PPG Paints Arena.
"You have to move on and when you get a couple looks and they don’t go in, you have to turn the page," he said. "It was good to get one early. I think that always makes a big difference as far as being able to forget about it."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Flyers, Philadelpha, April 15, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS