The Battle of Pennsylvania has all of a sudden become a lot more interesting. After being outmatched throughout the first three games of the series and on the brink of being swept, Sidney Crosby led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Game 4 win in Philadelphia, instilling some hope that a comeback was possible.
If nobody believed it could happen then, they certainly have their attention now. The captain was once again at the forefront in Game 5 on Monday night, tallying two points (two assists) in the Penguins’ 3–2 win, forcing a Game 6 thanks to an all-around vintage Crosby performance.
He did it all from start to finish, and former NHLer, now TSN analyst Cameron Gaunce, gave him his flowers for the effort postgame.
“Through the neutral zone, in the offensive zone, he was doing such a good job putting his teammates in positions to succeed. He has always been a good passer of the puck, but tonight that was on display. And at times during this game, of course the Flyers were going to have a push—they wanted to end this series—but Crosby was able to will his team through it. Even tonight he had the vintage ability to win puck battles along the boards, hang defensemen at the net, and near the end of the game when things got a bit dicey, he just swiped a few faceoffs. Philly got the choice to go which side they wanted to win the faceoff on—it didn’t matter. He swiped them both back clean, didn’t give Philly an opportunity to set up a play, and just from start to finish he was so dominant”
The 38-year-old Crosby is now up to five points (one goal, four assists) through five games played this postseason.
After being held off the scoresheet in Games 1 and 2, Crosby has firmly entered the series from Game 3 onward, and you have to expect he’ll have more to say moving forward.
He and the Penguins will now make the trip back to southeastern Pennsylvania for another do-or-die Game 6, with the pressure now shifted squarely onto the Flyers.
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