"Forget about the 500," Kris Letang would say late Tuesday night, as if forgetting the unforgettable could've been even remotely conceivable in this setting.
No chance of that.
Not with how fantastically it all unfolded:
I mean ... who'd dare to whip up a script like this?
Sidney Patrick Crosby's 500th NHL goal, one that put him in a class with only 45 others in hockey history, in a class with only Alexander Ovechkin among active players, in a class with only Mario Lemieux for this particular franchise ... came with his trademark knee-bend ... from a violent angle ... on an assist from Evgeni Malkin, who's set up 109 of them, more than anyone ... against the Flyers, the archrival he's assaulted for a hilarious 10% of them ... in front of mom and dad, who couldn't have seen it in Ottawa or Newark before this ... and yeah, right here at PPG Paints Arena amid the most explosive reaction this place had experienced since Chris Kunitz's kill shot on Craig Anderson.
What else was there to ask, right?
Maybe a backhander?
Or a one-handed backhander?
Well, as it turned out, there'd be another ask at hand: The Penguins had clearly become so caught up in the scene above, from spilling out onto the ice en masse to congratulate Sid to all the various video tributes to the continued cacophony from the crowd of 18,385, that they'd somehow fallen behind by two goals through two periods to a ravaged Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley roster that'd lost 14 of 16 games in 2022 .
Which transformed this version of Sid ...
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Sidney Crosby celebrates his 500th goal as Bryan Rust fishes the puck out of the net.
... into this one:
JEANINE LEECH / GETTY
Sidney Crosby barks at officials over an apparent too-many-men infraction in the third period.
Why?
It couldn't be simpler for anyone who gets what's always made him tick: Anything less than a win would've been a stain on a memory he'd already embraced.
I'd asked Letang afterward, since he knows his best bud as well as anyone, how much Sid might've wanted this broader outcome, and this was the full response: "Of course you want that ... that game, that memory ... to be a win. You don't want to remember your 500th goal in a loss, especially against a rival like this. But forget about the 500. He does that every game. That's what he brings to the table. He leads by example. He goes out there, and he's always the guy that works the hardest. Obviously, he wanted that game badly."
Obviously.
This was Sid when the Flyers' Scott Laughton tied the score in the second:
And this was Sid's doubly frustrated response once down by two midway through the third, first expressing exasperation with the officials for missing a too-many-man penalty on the Philadelphia bench, then by plowing Laughton with an emphatic hip drive into the corner:
And within a couple minutes of that, Jake Guentzel and Chad Ruhwedel tied the score with strikes 18 ticks apart, setting the stage for Letang to look off Sid before sliding the overtime winner through Carter Hall's five-hole:
Just like that: Penguins 5, Flyers 4.
Coincidence?
Come on. Everyone reading this knows better.
Of his feelings upon scoring the 500th, Sid would say, "I mean, you look back at different things over the last 16-17 years and, yeah, that's a memory that I'll always hold pretty close, with Geno assisting, with it being at home against Philadelphia and ... I think everything that kind of went into it, obviously, to get the win. I mean, that changes the whole dynamic a little bit when you're able to get the win at the end."
His eyeroll with that final phrase spoke volumes.
As much as his belligerent body language after being down two goals, which I asked about:
"Yeah, I mean, obviously, the games against Philadelphia over the years have been intense, and there've been kind of different storylines," he'd reply. "But tonight I felt like I got stuck out there on that second goal, and then they get a bounce there on the fourth one."
A Justin Braun point shot that ricocheted twice to make it 4-2. Neither goal was his fault, to say the least.
"So I didn't feel good about that," he'd proceed. "It was nice to get 500, but there are some plays I'd like to have back. So I think it was just a matter of everyone just trying to push and try to find a way to grab it."
That the Penguins found a way was because their captain showed the way. Kinda how it's been around here for a couple decades now.
Sid's 500 goals are an achievement worth all the applause he received from this audience, and then some. His entire life and career are that, from Cole Harbour to Rimouski, from Vancouver to Sochi, from our fair city to all points in the NHL. He's a living, breathing, skating legend.
But he isn't that for the 500 goals or the 1,371 points or all the other milestones he'll hit that'll feel more like mileposts on the road toward something far greater. Because those statistics have forever been the blissful byproduct of his real motivator, which have been manifested best by his three Stanley Cups, his two Olympic golds, and all else that he's won, won, won ... and continues to win. Even this one silly game in mid-February against a mangled opponent.
Mike Babcock, when he was Canada's Olympic coach in Sochi, told a group of us reporters over there that he saw Sid as "a serial winner." He saw everything about this extraordinary young man -- his mindset, mannerisms, even his on-ice methodology -- as all pointing toward a singular ideal outcome in which the scoring itself comes secondary.
So hey, yeah, congrats, Sid.
On beating the freaking Flyers again.
• What's above is the video shown during a TV timeout in the second period. The team had most of it compiled much earlier, then added the 500th in the first intermission.
This shows Sid's reaction throughout, as well as those of Troy and Trina Crosby, accompanied by a second wave of a thunderous appreciation during which I happened to notice all four on-ice officials clapping ... and even a couple of the Flyers tapping their sticks!
It was, to use the term again, unforgettable.
Taylor Haase has tons more on 500.
• I'm often citing that Babcock tag, but no coach has ever spoken more effusively or eloquently of Sid than his current one.
Loved this from Mike Sullivan after this one: "I thought it was so cool just to see the reaction of the players and fans. And he's just so deserving. That's the way I look at it. I just think Sid represents everything that's right about our game. His humility, the way he carries himself, his work ethic, his team-first attitude and approach, how leads by example. ... And for me to have the privilege of being his coach over the past seven years and winning some Stanley Cups with him, and then having the opportunity to experience some of his personal milestones along the way, it's just been an unbelievable honor for me."
Talk about being humble and carrying oneself with class.
• Letang's OT goal was a hoot in that he put forth the most transparent, NBA-style look-off that Carter Hart should've yawned in getting set for Letang's shot.
Instead:
Yikes. Basketball maneuver or not, Hart really needed to have his blade down there.
Letang failed to stifle a devilish smile when describing his role in the two-on-one.
"It was just like a quick turnaround, and the defenseman was kind of taking away Sid," Letang said, referring to Ivan Provorov. "I was trying to fool the goalie by looking at Sid the entire time and tried to slip the puck five-hole."
Ridiculous stat: Letang's 30 overtime points are the most by a defenseman in NHL history.
• Imagine that, after this happened to Brock McGinn in the third period ...
... he'd be back to killing penalties within five minutes, lining up for more blocks.
Sullivan didn't divulge what'd happened to McGinn on that Nick Seeler blast that appeared to strike the open left palm of McGinn's glove -- zero padding there -- but my educated guess, based on seeing the equipment managers cleaning up an apparent blood spill on the tunnel surface, plus McGinn later wrapping his hand in a towel, is that he lost a fingernail.
I asked Sullivan what McGinn's return and his general showing all season meant to him.
"He's tough," Sullivan began. "He's just a gritty player. He's a competitor. He wants to win. He understands that we rely on him in those situations. It doesn't surprise me that he came back. He's just ... he's that type of a player. I think that's what we knew we were getting when we got him. And he brings it every night. You know exactly what you're going to get from Ginner every night. You're going to get an honest effort."
• One might never guess who else lauded McGinn, only this was in the locker room:
Scoring 500 career goals is... pretty bold 🙌 pic.twitter.com/QbjvvUc45Z
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 16, 2022
• Another ace acquisition for Ron Hextall, who'll earn a candidacy for the NHL's executive of the year if this keeps up.
• His odds will only improve if he can somehow secure a taker for Kasperi Kapanen. I counted three complete bail-outs in rushes up the right side, down from the usual handful and still nowhere near good enough to be stealing top-six minutes next to Geno.
Enough already. To repeat this yet again, move Jeff Carter to second-line right wing. He'll end up there, regardless, once Teddy Blueger's back. Might as well start creating some chemistry.
• Every time Casey DeSmith performs like a capable NHL backup, I remind that carrying an occasionally capable NHL backup isn't optimal for a bona fide Cup contender. That goaltender needs to be able to steal outcomes, not survive them.
DeSmith made two terrific saves in the third period, one on Morgan Frost, the other on Claude Giroux, after the Penguins had tied. Good for him. But before that, he'd been slipping and sliding all over creation, no different than his many early-season misadventures, in bearing at least some significant responsibility for Philadelphia's four goals.
Stop falling for mirages on this front.
• If Dominik Simon scores in the same game in which Sid scores his 500th, did it really even happen?
Poor Dom. Slick play, too.
• Don't go getting discouraged about these first two periods. Sullivan went out of his way to stress his sense that the players were "emotional" within the environment, and I'm here to attest this was a 180-degree difference from the comparative mausoleum in which they'd just performed Sunday in Newark. It's more than plausible.
• They'll need to be way tighter Thursday night in Toronto.
• Oh, hey, that's four wins in a row. And a 31-11-8 record that's first in the Metro, tied with the Lightning for first in the East, and tied for second in the entire NHL, two points behind the Avalanche.
Anyone recall when the Penguins were supposed to have a tall task just making the playoffs?
• Thanks for reading, as always.
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
The Penguins' bench pours out to congratulate Sidney Crosby.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins C
2. Kris Letang, Penguins D
3. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Brock McGinn, left winger, left in the third period after being struck by a slap shot on his left hand but somehow returned. See above.
• Drew O'Connor, left winger, has been on LTIR since Jan. 15 with an upper-body injury. He's back to practicing.
• Teddy Blueger, center, has been on IR since undergoing surgery to repair a fractured jaw Jan. 24. He's expected to miss 6-8 weeks. He's skating.
• Jason Zucker, left winger, has been on IR since undergoing core muscle surgery Jan. 25. He's week-to-week.
• Louis Domingue, goaltender, has been on IR since he was struck by a puck in the right foot at a morning skate Jan. 20. He's week-to-week.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
McGinn-Malkin-Kapanen
Heinen-Carter-Rodrigues
Aston-Reese-Boyle-Simon
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
Matheson-Ruhwedel
And for Mike Yeo's Flyers:
Lindblom-Giroux-Atkinson
van Riemsdyk-Laughton-Konecny
Ratfcliffe-Frost-Willman
Cates-Bunnaman-MacEwen
Provorov-Braun
Sanheim-Seeler
Yandle-Connauton
THE SCHEDULE
There's a practice Wednesday at noon in Cranberry, and there's a game Thursday at 7:08 p.m. in Toronto. Dave Molinari will have the former. I'll travel up north to cover the latter.
THE CONTENT
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