The second half of the season clearly belongs to Sidney Crosby.
NHL scores 2016: Sidney Crosby continues his resurgence with a comeback victory
Crosby is back and dominating everyone in his path again.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Frankly, he did nothing to own the first few months of the season. He was on pace for his worst statistical year, mired in a horrific scoring slump on a team spinning its tires in the mud.
Now, Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are going places.
Faced with a two-goal deficit in the third period on Saturday night, Crosby led a comeback with a goal and an assist to give the Penguins a 3-2 overtime win over the Panthers in Florida, their fourth win in five games. Crosby and Kris Letang made the magic for Pittsburgh, combining for all three Penguins goals. Crosby's three-point night gave him ten points in his last ten games.
That also meant Crosby passed a huge career milestone.
make that 902 for Crosby, assists on Letang OT winner pic.twitter.com/RczWGCiGOQ
— Stephanie (@myregularface) February 7, 2016
That’s 902 points for Crosby, 105th-most all time and the 12th-most among active NHL players. And he’s only 28!
No doubt Crosby has plenty of time to climb that list. And the Penguins have begun their climb deep into playoff contention just in time for the Wild Card race to heat up. All of their competitors for the final Eastern Conference playoff berths are spinning their tires (Detroit, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Carolina) or worse (Montreal).
Now is the perfect time to start separating themselves from the pack, and Crosby is making sure they do.
Scores
Senators 6, Maple Leafs 1
Penguins 3, Panthers 2 (OT)
Blues 4, Wild 1
Blackhawks 5, Stars 1
3 things we learned
1. Blowouts became the norm for a night
Was everyone hungover from Friday night fun, or what? The Oilers, Islanders, Maple Leafs, Wild, Sharks and Stars lost by a combined score of 31-7. That's an average margin of defeat of four goals. Not great, Bob. We all got treated to one of sports' greatest lessons: blowouts are fun while they're being built, and then garbage time is just a bore.
Give me close, low-scoring affairs any day.
2. Canadian teams can win hockey games!
But only when they’re against Canadian teams. Montreal snapped its four-game losing streak (was it really only four? It seemed like 40) with a 5-1 win over the Oilers. Meanwhile, the Senators solved their goal-leaking problem by torching the rival Maple Leafs at home. A welcome change for both clubs, even though the victories came against two of the worst teams in the NHL. They’ll take it.
3. Erik Karlsson is running away with the Norris
Yes, the Norris Trophy race has too often favored offensively minded players over the last few seasons. But Karlsson's performance this season can't be overstated. With another four points on Saturday (all assists), the Ottawa Senators captain tied Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn for second-most in the NHL with 59. He's on pace for 91 points, which is not only the most by a defenseman in quite some time but astounding considering Benn won the Art Ross Trophy last year with 87.
Impact Moment
Connor McDavid can lose, miss the scoresheet entirely and still make the night's best highlight with a shot he didn't even score on.
That was something else. #EDMvsMTL pic.twitter.com/BmPLUgNdNo
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 6, 2016
Stat of the Night
Via @EliasSports, only 10 players in NHL history have reached 900 PTS in fewer games played than Crosby (@penguins) pic.twitter.com/CVXnBoPjjr
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 7, 2016
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