Penguins fans cheer on Sidney Crosby yesterday at Mellon Arena. Crosby scored two goals and assisted on another.
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Penguins have been learning what hockey at this time of year is all about.
What it's like to fight for every square centimeter of open ice. To compete for loose pucks like an angry badger. To work so hard along the boards that the ads rub off on your uniform.
That's standard-issue stuff in late March.
Occasionally, though, there is a game in which the outcome does not teeter on every shift. When the stress level is considerably lower than usual, if only because the stakes are for at least one of the teams.
Sidney Crosby celebrates his third-period goal with Colby Armstrong yesterday at Mellon Arena.
A game like the Penguins' 5-0 victory against Boston at Mellon Arena yesterday.
"It was a fun game to play," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. "It wasn't too tight."
That was particularly true after the Penguins scored on four of their first 10 shots, at which point the game became only slightly more intense than a quilting bee.
For a team like the Bruins, whose elimination from playoff contention is nothing more than a mathematical formality at this point, falling behind by four on the road is ample reason to shift one's focus to what kind of food will be served on the flight home.
And so it was that, after the Penguins ran their lead to 4-0 little more than a minute into the second period, the rest of the afternoon was not so much a game as a dress rehearsal for the half-dozen that remain.
And the Penguins, to their credit, continued to perform efficiently long after the outcome was decided.
"We know they're out of it," right winger Mark Recchi said, "and we were trying to make sure we kept doing the right things."
The Penguins (43-23-10) did enough of those to climb into a tie with New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division, although the Devils have a game in hand. They also moved to within two points of Ottawa, which is fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots to record his fifth shutout of the season and Crosby snapped a three-game scoring drought with two goals and an assist. That gives him a 111-104 lead over San Jose center Joe Thornton in the NHL points race.
"He was on fire," Bruins coach Dave Lewis said. "Sidney's been an amazing player to watch."
Peter Diana, Post-Gazette
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury makes a save against the Bruins yesterday at Mellon Arena.
Click photo for larger image.
Crosby got his first goal when he knocked a Sergei Gonchar rebound out of the air and past Bruins goalie Tim Thomas during a power play at 16:14 of the first period, his second at 4:29 of the third, off an inadvertent set-up by linemate Colby Armstrong.
Armstrong, who was on the right side, had a shot at an open net, but sent the puck through the crease. When it reached the other side, Crosby was waiting and flipped a backhander past Joey MacDonald, who had replaced Thomas after the first period.
"I got a little too much stick on it," Armstrong said. "But Sid was obviously in the right spot at the right time."
Armstrong acknowledged that only after putting forth a vigorous defense of his work during that sequence, when he vowed his primary objective was to pad Crosby's personal totals.
"I had to get him involved in the play," Armstrong said, smiling. "I felt bad for him."
Crosby's second goal was the only one the Penguins got at even strength. Their first three came during power plays in the opening period, as Gary Roberts moved into Recchi's spot on the No. 1 unit, and Ryan Malone got the other while the Penguins were short-handed at 1:09 of the second.
Jordan Staal skates against the Bruins' Shean Donovan at the Mellon Arena yesterday.
"The [power-play] execution was there," coach Michel Therrien said. "We tried a different combination, and it worked."
The power play, which scored on its first three chances, was impressive, but so was the penalty-killing. It not only denied the Bruins on five tries with the extra man, but allowed the Penguins to get away with being short-handed three times during the first half of the opening period.
"That's not the start you're looking for, to take so many penalties," Therrien said.
The Penguins survived that stretch, though -- "Our penalty-killers were great early," Roberts said -- and Evgeni Malkin gave them the only goal they needed when he pounded a slap shot past Thomas during a 4-on-3 power play at 11:54 of the first.
The goals Crosby (two), Roberts and Malone contributed added to their margin of victory and, in the process, helped to reaffirm that the Penguins are a legitimate threat to win the Atlantic.
"We're right there," Crosby said. "We'll just keep going and see what happens."
:D:D 0:0 u prvom dijelu.....jos 7 minuta
