Oct 18, 2008 - 11:53 PM
0 shoutsPITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Sidney Crosby is so good, he made a matchup against the forgettable Toronto Maple Leafs memorable.
The young superstar scored his 100th career goal and assisted on each of his team's other three tallies as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Maple Leafs, 4-1, on Saturday night.
In a contest Pittsburgh was fully expected to win, Crosby dominated the headlines by notching a series of career milestones.
Not only did he net a significant goal, Crosby also recorded the 200th assist and 300th point of his already brilliant career. The 21-year-old captain needed just 219 games to reach those marks.
"They're nice," Crosby said when asked about the milestones. "It's not what you play for, but they're great accomplishments."
It was the second multi-point game of the season for Crosby and his first four-point effort since a 5-3 win over Ottawa last April.
"I don't expect four-point nights, but I definitely wanted to score," he said. "I felt like I was doing some good things, but the puck just wasn't going in."
"He is the best player in the league," Pittsburgh's Pascal Dupuis said. "It's always good to play with a guy like that. It's always a challenge."
Not to be overshadowed, Evgeni Malkin - another of Pittsburgh's young stars - attained a milestone of his own as his three assists in the contest gave him 200 career points.
"We wanted to do a good job," Crosby said of himself and Malkin, who were linemates during the game. "When we're together, we know that there's a message there."
"(Crosby and Malkin) certainly had a great game," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "They responded exactly the way we expected. They played well together."
Dupuis, Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora also scored for the Penguins, who improved to 2-2-1 at home.
The contest was scoreless until Nik Antropov tapped in a rebound on a power play with 5:35 remaining in the opening period.
It did not take long for the Penguins to tie the contest, as Dupuis secured the rebound of a shot by Crosby in the slot and fired a backhander between the pads of goaltender Curtis Joseph just 51 seconds later.
"I guess Sid saw me at the last second," Dupuis said. "He was going to shoot and he tried to slide it across. Sykora told me before the game to try and go five-hole."
Crosby's help on the play garnered him his assist milestone.
Pittsburgh took the lead for good midway through the second, as Crosby came up the left side and skated toward the net before unleashing a long pass between the legs of defenseman Luke Schenn to a wide-open Satan, who one-timed it into the empty right side of the net. The assist was Crosby's 300th career point.
Crosby then netted his first goal of the season with 7:45 left in the third. The 2007 Hart Trophy winner took advantage of Joseph moving out of position on a poke-check attempt and tossed in a backhander that deflected off Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski as he was trying to cover the empty net.
"I was just throwing it out front," Crosby said when asked if he intended to deflect the puck off Grabovski. "Throw it at the net, good things happen, and I got a great bounce."
Sykora wrapped up the scoring, one-timing a crossing pass from Crosby into the empty left side of the net during a power play 81 seconds later.
"(Crosby's) got great speed, and obviously his slap passes are pretty accurate," Joseph said. "He's in a good spot. Usually, the best players keep you guessing, and he certainly does that out there."
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots for Pittsburgh. Fleury, who turned away all 15 shots he faced after the opening session, is starting to show glimpses of his form from last season.
"He's been playing the same way that he did last season when he came back from the injury," Therrien said.
Joseph made 21 saves for Toronto, which fell to 0-2-2 in its last four games.
From the Bleachers
-
TORONTO: 1
PITTSBURGH: 4
Final
Oct 18 9:41 PM -
NHL
TORONTO 1
PITTSBURGH 4
3RD PRD: PIT - (PP) PETR SYKORA 1 (SIDNEY CROSBY, EVGENI MALKIN) 13:36
Oct 18 9:30 PM -
NHL
TORONTO 1
PITTSBURGH 3
3RD PRD: PIT - SIDNEY CROSBY 1 (EVGENI MALKIN, KRISTOPHER LETANG)
12:15
Oct 18 9:25 PM -
TORONTO: 1
PITTSBURGH: 2
End of 2nd
Oct 18 8:46 PM -
NHL
TORONTO 1
PITTSBURGH 2
2ND PRD: PIT - (PP) MIROSLAV SATAN 3 (SIDNEY CROSBY, EVGENI MALKIN)
7:55
Oct 18 8:24 PM -
TORONTO: 1
PITTSBURGH: 1
End of 1st
Oct 18 7:51 PM -
NHL
TORONTO 1
PITTSBURGH 1
1ST PRD: PIT - PASCAL DUPUIS 2 (SIDNEY CROSBY, EVGENI MALKIN) 15:16
Oct 18 7:46 PM -
NHL
TORONTO 1
PITTSBURGH 0
1ST PRD: TOR - (PP) NIK ANTROPOV 1 (JASON BLAKE, TOMAS KABERLE) 14:25
Oct 18 7:40 PM
