It’s the tradition during the warm-up period: the fans, often the youngest, gather around the bay windows and put up their posters there in the hope that a player will offer them a puck or, better yet, a stick.
The messages are often humorous, like this one Wednesday night at the Bell Center: “Who needs Crosby when you have Slafkovsky? »
We don’t know if Sidney Crosby has the eagle eyes to read this sign, which was behind Samuel Montembeault’s net, but in any case, he made this fan swallow the joke by making himself the catalyst for a victory 4-3 by the Penguins over the Canadian.
This is not a criticism of Juraj Slafkovsky, mind you, who played a very decent match despite a few blunders here and there.
Except that in the battle of former first draft picks, the one from 2005 dominated across the board. His record: two goals, one assist, another shootout goal, 60% on faceoffs, 22 minutes on the ice. In Crosby’s world, 36 is the new 26.
David Savard knew the number 87 well, having faced it during numerous editions of the Clásico Columbus-Pittsburgh (it is possible that the fans of the two teams do not use this expression).
Savard and Mike Matheson were tasked with facing Crosby, a confrontation that Martin St-Louis scrupulously respected. Here, according to Natural Stat Trick, is the time Crosby spent against each Canadiens defender at five-on-five.
However, at five against five, Matheson and Savard accomplished their task, even though Savard was rarely as involved offensively as on Wednesday. Crosby scored two points on the power play. What about the five-on-five? It was one of the moments during the 76 seconds where he found himself facing Guhle, a play where he rushed at the young Canadian defender, who took too long to restart the attack.
“I probably wasn’t ready,” a defeated Guhle admitted after the match. This can’t happen. It’s my fault. This can’t happen. »
In the not-so-distant future, Guhle will become CH’s trusted man for this type of duel. But that day has not yet arrived. And apart from exceptional talent, it’s very rare for such assignments to fall to 21-year-olds.
On this specific play, Guhle should assimilate the lesson quickly. But there was one, more global, valid for all the players in red, that St-Louis wishes to instill with this performance from the Nova Scotian.
It’s this part of Crosby’s game that St. Louis admired.
“It’s 3-3 in the third, and there aren’t a lot of turnovers in his game. He often sends [the puck] deep. He’s a star player, he’s a great example to help us better manage the game. The game won’t always give you space. I think we did a good job of not giving too much space. But when Crosby doesn’t have that, he respects what the game tells him. He’s been mature for a long time. These are great examples. »
His words echoed what Savard said a few minutes earlier in the locker room. “It’s rare that he gets stuck with the puck, that he makes turnovers. He makes the players around him better. That’s why he can still play at this level, it’s the way he sees the game around him. »
The fact that Crosby came away with three points from a game where he was neutralized 5-on-5 by his main rivals says a lot about his level of discipline. This isn’t just a lesson for the youth, mind you: Erik Karlsson spent his first period distributing pucks to Montrealers.
But the young core of the CH has an interest in assimilating the lesson, which will ultimately only cost one point in the standings rather than two.