Crosby emotional reflecting on time with Malkin, Letang in 1,000th game

Sidney Crosby has many superstitions. 

Probably too many to list here.

One of his long-standing superstitions as part of his pregame routine is to retie both skates in the middle of warmups, always at the same spot just off of the center ice circle. 

Crosby's teammates paid tribute to him during warmups in honor of his 1,000th game, with every player wearing a No. 87 Crosby jersey with a 'C' on the front. They took the Crosby cosplay a step further, though, and all dropped to a knee to copy Crosby retying his skates.

He laughed and said "That's good, that's awesome," when he realized what was going on.

Crosby confirmed after the game that he didn't know about his teammates' plans to join in on the superstition.

"To see them all tying their skates at the same time, I had a really good laugh," he said with a smile. "I didn't expect that, that was pretty good."

I asked Kris Letang whose idea it was to add that touch to the night, and he wouldn't spill the beans.

"I mean .. we didn't ... I can't give up the names," he said with a mischievous-looking grin. "We try to keep that low-key. But I thought it was pretty cool. Throughout the years, guys that know him really well kind of know his superstitions. To have that done, I think is going to be a cool memory for him."

The two guys on the team who have been with Crosby the longest -- Letang and Evgeni Malkin -- seemed to move Crosby the most during the pregame ceremony.

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Sidney Crosby and Kathy Leutner watch the pregame video commemorating Crosby's 1,000th game.

Crosby's parents, Troy and Tina, and sister Taylor couldn't make it to Pittsburgh for the game. The only person to join Crosby on the ice for the ceremony was his longtime girlfriend, Kathy Leutner, who made sure to carefully tiptoe around the Penguins logo on the carpet running over the ice, drawing a big smile from Crosby. They watched the video highlighting various moments from Crosby's previous 999 regular-season games, with video messages from NHL stars past and present -- Steve Yzerman, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Patrick Kane, Bill Guerin, Mario Lemieux -- interspersed throughout. 

Including Yzerman, who was Crosby's favorite player growing up, was a special touch.

"He was a role model for me growing up," Crosby said. "I loved the way that he played the game, the way he carried himself. ... I remember my first year, I was really excited to be playing against them, I remember at the time he had an eye injury and didn't play that night. I remember getting on the bus after the game and I got a call and it was from him, just saying that he wished he would have been able to get out there that night and play against me, and wished me all the best and good luck. I was always a big fan of him, but just an unbelievable move and a lot of class. ... It was pretty special seeing him on a video here tonight."

Mike Sullivan had a strong message near the end.

"You are a leader, a fierce competitor, and one of the greatest players to ever play the game," he said.

When Letang spoke next, you could see Crosby start to tear up.

"Three Cups, Conn Smythes, Hart Trophies, you did it all," Letang said as the video showed himself and Crosby at age 21 hugging each other on the ice in Detroit after their first of three Cups together. "It was a pleasure for me to be next to you for all of those great moments. But the most important thing was I got a friend, and you're going to be my friend forever."

Malkin spoke last.

"You're an amazing player," he said. "I want to see more goals for you, more points, more games, and of course, more Cups," eliciting a smile from Crosby with the last line.

I asked Crosby about the emotions he had during that video, and what it meant to have Letang and Malkin be able to share in this moment.

"We've been through so much together," he said. "To be able to play here together, to be able to come in as young players trying to figure things out, to go through what we've gone through whether it be individually with injuries, and being there to support one another, winning championships together, there's a lot of great history there. A lot of great memories. To know that they were a part of tonight, and just for all those things to kind of come back and to think about and reflect on all of those things, it was definitely hard to keep it together.

"It didn't help when I looked over and saw Geno having a hard time too," he said with a smile. "Just a really special day and special night. Those guys are a big reason for it."

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Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust celebrate Letang's second-period power play goal.

It's only fitting that Letang and Malkin were also a big reason for the Penguins coming away with the 3-2 win. 

Letang opened the scoring with a power play goal in the second period, set up by Malkin and Crosby:

With the game tied with 6:26 left in the third period, Letang scored what would prove to be the game-winner, with Crosby and Jake Guentzel earning the assists:

"It was cool to have those kinds of moments together on his 1,000th game," Letang said. "It's always fun, we had so many memories. I think this one can add to the bunch of them."

Those two pucks from the goals Letang scored, though, will go to Crosby, not himself.

"(Crosby) is going to be the one that's going to keep them," he said. "It's his night, a special one, and I think he should keep those pucks, especially the one at the end that wins us the game. It's a pass that not many players can put through a defender like that. I'm just going to keep my warmup jersey."

For Sullivan -- who, like the rest of the coaching staff was wearing a special 87-embroidered tie for the occasion -- was pleased with the win not only for the two points, but to make the night special for Crosby.

"I'm real happy for Sid," Sullivan said. "It's a big night for him. To come out on the right side of the score, that makes that memory that much more fond for him. It certainly wasn't how we drew it up, but fortunately we found a way to win. I'm happy for Sid."

Crosby was asked what he thinks he'll remember the most about tonight years down the road.

"I think just the whole day," he said. "I think with different experiences I've had, I've always tried to treat it like a regular day. That was pretty much impossible today. Just the way everyone treated me, and all the little things, it probably wasn't easy for guys to prepare for the game and get ready with all of the stuff leading up to it. Hearing from old teammates, by text or on the videos, sharing it with all the guys in here, there's just so many things. But I think I'll remember the whole day itself and leading up to it, and the fact that we won it. The game itself, it's great that we won, but the way that it felt and the way I was treated all day was pretty unique."