Every summer since Sidney Patrick Crosby's been old enough to skate and chomp into a Timmy's at the same time, winding all the way back to his Nova Scotia upbringing, he's strived to add some specific new tier to his craft. He hasn't always shared what those were, but there've been years where no one needed to ask. He'd follow a few months of intensive focus on faceoffs by instantly becoming among the NHL's most proficient in that facet. He'd follow another few months of focus on deflecting shots by instantly tipping home half his goals.
One might say he's a masterwork in progress.
And, of course, still very much that:
Mm-hm. Amazing. Always.
And never, ever to be taken for granted.
So, upon Sid scoring twice more in the Penguins' 4-1 flattening of the Blue Jackets on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, bringing his 14th and 15 goals of a season that's barely a third of the way through, I asked the man who's been his head coach longer than anyone else a question I genuinely wasn't sure how he'd answer: Has Mike Sullivan noticed, with Sid now 35, any adjustments or modifications to his offensive game to reflect that age?
"I don't know," he'd begin. "I think he's just a wiser version of himself. I think he's such a student of the game. He's not only a student of his own game, but he's a student of the game in general, and he's always looking for areas to get better improvement. So I think because of that, his game is ever-evolving, and there are always elements to his game that he adds. So yeah, I just think he's a wiser version of himself."
He'd grin slightly and add, "If that's possible."
Has to be something, though, right?
Because it couldn't conceivably be the case that this beyond-generational talent continues to excel by sticking with the same broader approaches he's applied forever, right?
I mean, even Mario Lemieux had to reinvent himself upon the historic second phase of his career, morphing into more of a gunner, particularly on power plays in positioning himself low along the left side -- way down at the goal line occasionally -- and blasting away. So, it'd stand to reason, it seems that Sid, the greatest grinder the game's ever seen, would have to compensate at some point in some way.
Except that he isn't. Like, at all.
"No, not at all," Teddy Blueger would tell me after this. "He's doing what he's always done to create offense."
"No change," Marcus Pettersson would tell me. "And why should he change? He's flying around now like he's 25, not 35."
For his first goal in this one, he shoved his way through Columbus' Gustav Nyquist and Andrew Peeke to angle toward a Jake Guentzel rebound. Peeke was so on the job that he'd also end up on top of Sid. But the captain preserved enough concentration and balance to poke the puck past Elvis Merzlikins -- and put the Penguins up for good, 2-1 -- before being planted on his backside.
It'd been a while since he'd popped one like that, but there's precedent.
And for the second of these, there's a ton of precedent.
"The goal he got on the power play tonight on the back post there," Sullivan would describe, "when he drags his leg and gets down and makes himself big ... I can't tell you how many times I've seen him score that goal over the years. Not a lot of guys can score that type of goal."
Right. Might as well be a trademark. Dropping to one knee, chin and shoulders high ... heck, it should be the statue along Fifth Avenue someday.
And yet, even though the arsenal's apparently unchanged:
• Sid's 35 points -- 15 goals, 20 assists -- lead the Penguins by a margin of nine, and they're tied for fifth-most in the NHL.
• That point total's the sixth-highest of Sid's career through 26 games. The two highest totals through 26 games came in the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons, and the other three seasons were all within the Sid the Kid years of 2006-09.
• He's produced at least one point in 19 of those 26 games, at least one goal in half of them.
• He's done all this despite a deeply disappointing power play, and only six of his points coming with the man-advantage. That's required him to lead the league with 29 even-strength points on 13 goals, 16 assists.
• He's allowed no other part of his game to suffer in the slightest: The goals have been balanced by 20 assists, 15th-most in the NHL, with 11 of those being primary assists. He's won 51.56% of his draws. He's drawn five penalties. He's blocked 12 shots. And to toss in one advanced figure, his 53.85% Corsi For percentage at five-on-five -- tracking the ratio of shot attempts for both teams while he's on the ice -- is fourth among all of the Penguins' skaters.
Oh, and did I mention he suited up for this one after a couple of days of feeling ill enough that, in a rarity, he wasn't available for interviews afterward?
I'm tempted to take this further and pontificate about the potential benefits of his 2021 wrist surgery, how that might feed into a 19.5% shooting percentage that's well above his 14.7% career number, how that accuracy might feed into confidence in other areas, and another 87 volumes or more.
But really, look at who we're talking about. This topic stopped requiring rational explanations roughly 17 years ago.
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Jake Guentzel's stopped by the Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins in the first period Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
• Allow me this, too: Sid's on pace to score 47.3 goals. He's poked into the 40s only twice, including his lone 50-goal season in 2009-10 with 51.
I'm not predicting. Merely pointing it out.
• But hey, even if there's some back-to-earth along the remaining path, what if the power play doesn't stink this much all winter?
• Sullivan, on whether Sid's goal-scoring might be under-appreciated over the course of his career: "Yeah, probably. And he can score in so many different ways. That's the thing. He can shoot the puck. He's got a great one-timer. He's really good at his backhand. He's creative the way he thinks. He scores from below the goal line. He banks it off the backs of goalies. Sometimes we just shake our head with his creativity and how he thinks the game. But I do think that it probably gets overlooked because he's such a good passer, and every other aspect of his game is so good that, sometimes, the actual pure goal-scoring part of it gets overlooked."
• Nice night for the penalty-kill. Taylor Haase has that in a separate.
• Just as nice a night for Bryan Rust. Danny Shirey has that in Freeze Frame, which I'll rudely remind is now a mandatory read.
• Nicest night of all for the collective, now 14-8-4, including 8-1-1 in their past 10, and back up to third in the Metro behind the Devils and Hurricanes. It's getting there.
• I was almost as impressed with Marcus Pettersson's breakup of this Columbus two-on-one ...
... as was the description of his decision-making that he shared in our one-on-one talk afterward:
"It was kind of a a full-ice one, so I think it's sometimes it's easier to get a gap and understand what's what's in front of you," he'd reply. "If there's a two-on-one that's a little bit quicker, then you have to make a quick read. But I just thought that I had good speed coming out. I kind of matched the speed, and I figured I could go to a long body and force him to shoot it in my foot."
Which Sean Kuraly did.
Someone please tell me they weren't really trying to trade this guy in the offseason. Because just imagine that combined with having given up whatever god-like version of John Marino's suddenly emerged in Newark.
• Never underestimate the hidden value of a goaltender giving up an awful-angle goal in the opening minute, as Tristan Jarry did to Johnny Gaudreau, then stopping the final 38 shots he'd face. Overcoming a lousy start's a listable skill in that profession.
He's performing much better of late, but, as he's reminded me a few times already this season, he'll never elaborate on that.
"Nope," he'd say this time. "Just playing."
• Teddy Blueger hadn't scored in his first 10 games since finally starting his season, and he was stopped -- a little too easily -- by Merzlikins on a penalty shot in this one, but he finally nailed an open net.
And smiled a very big smile.
"It was frustrating, having that chance on the penalty shot and kind of wasting it," he'd say. "I think I'll sleep a lot better tonight after getting that last one."
• Yikes, not much going on for those Blue Jackets, huh?
They're 8-14-2 for 18 points, least in the East, and they've lost five of six.
"We had a good first," Columbus' Brad Larsen would fairly assess of a 1-0 lead and recording 10 of 19 shots. "It's the stuff that we hurt ourselves with. That's the frustrating part. We're asking a lot of some guys. We know it's a good team."
Sorry, I'm seeing a handful of good players that's still a solar system away from being a good team.
• Najee Harris must've heard there were more Falcons here he could steamroller:
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PENGUINS
The Steelers' Najee Harris, sporting one of the Penguins' new Winter Classic sweaters, and friends at rinkside.
Seriously, though, this is always cool. Never forget there's only one city in North America where all the teams have the same colors and same first name, and we're blessed to be living in it.
• Thanks for reading my hockey stuff. If this readership keeps up, I'll have enough cash to dress like Jeff Petry:
JUSTIN BERL / GETTY
Jeff Petry walks toward the Penguins' locker room before the game.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena:
1. Sidney Crosby, Penguins C
2. Bryan Rust, Penguins RW
3. Teddy Blueger, Penguins C
THE INJURIES
• Kris Letang, defenseman, is being held out indefinitely after having a stroke last week.
• Ryan Poehling, left winger, was scratched because of an upper-body injury.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan's lines and defense pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn-Jeff Carter-Kasperi Kapanen
Danton Heinen-Teddy Blueger-Josh Archibald
Marcus Pettersson-Jeff Petry
Brian Dumoulin-Jan Rutta
P.O Joseph-Chad Ruhwedel
And for Larsen's Blue Jackets:
Johnny Gaudreau-Boone Jenner-Patrik Laine
Kent Johnson-Jack Roslovic-Gustav Nyquist
Kirill Marchenko-Cole Sillinger-Yegor Chinakhov
Eric Robinson-Sean Kuraly-Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov-Marcus Bjork
Tim Berni-Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther-Andrew Peeke
THE SCHEDULE
There'll be an off-ice workout Wednesday -- no media access -- and a full practice Thursday, 11 a.m., both in Cranberry. Next game's Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y., with the Sabres heading down here the following night.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
