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Crosby, Recchi lead Penguins past Coyotes

Jan 28, 2007 - 6:38 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- All-Star Sidney Crosby has been labeled "The Next Gretzky." The "Great One" had a chance to see why.

Crosby and Mark Recchi had one goal and three assists apiece for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won for the fifth time in six contests with a 7-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

The league leader in assists (53) and points (78), the 19-year-old Crosby faced coach Wayne Gretzky's team for the first time in his career. It was the first matchup between the squads since February 25, 2004.

"I was 14 and I got to skate with him," Crosby said. "It was a dream come true. ... Everybody was a whole zone away from him, too scared to go near him and too scared to touch the pucks he touched. It was a dream come true to share the ice with the greatest player I ever saw."

"He is a tremendous athlete and a great hockey player," Gretzky said. "I have seen him play a few times over the years and he seems to get better every night. He is an elite player and is pretty special, not only what he does on the ice, but we he does off the ice for the game."

In his first two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky had 106 goals and 301 points. He won the first of his league-record 10 Art Ross Trophies in his second campaign (1980-1981).

Crosby has 64 goals and and 180 points in nearly two full seasons with the Penguins and is on pace to capture his first scoring title.

"You can't stop people from making comparisons but it is pretty amazing how quickly time goes," Gretzky said. "Here he is (at) 19 and he will be compared to guys for a few years then all of a sudden, there will be a new guy that comes along and they will say he is the next Crosby."

Ironically, Gretzky did not select Crosby to be a member of Canada's Olympic Team at Torino last February. The Canadian team failed to reach the semifinals after winning the Gold Medal in 2002.

"What I said when it happened last year (was) it was nice to be in the mix and when it didn't happen, I turned into a fan," Crosby said. "I didn't hold any grudges. I had no hard feeling for them at all."

Crosby needed just 24 seconds to help Pittsburgh open the scoring with a setup pass from behind the net to Ryan Malone, who beat goaltender Mikael Tellqvist to the glove side for his eighth goal.

With the game tied, 2-2, Crosby made a cross-ice feed to Ryan Whitney, who scored a power-play tally from the left faceoff circle inside the left goalpost with 6:44 remaining in the second period.

"They have a great offensive team and they capitalized on everything tonight and they created a lot of great scoring chances," Tellqvist said. "They really moved the puck around tonight, especially on the power play."

After Jarkko Ruutu gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead later in the middle session, Crosby netted his 25th goal with a spinning backhander on the doorstep that made it under the crossbar as he was falling down.

"I was falling back and I was lucky enough to get my stick there and had enough time to get my stick there," Crosby said.

One night after scoring his 500th goal in Dallas, Recchi picked up his 17th of the campaign on a power play with 7:44 left to help Pittsburgh raise its road record to 11-9-4.

Maxime Talbot and Ronald Petrovicky added tallies and netminder Jocelyn Thibault made 22 saves to improve to 13-7-4 lifetime against Phoenix.

"I haven't played a lot and I haven't gotten as many wins as (I would) like but the games I have played, I have given the team some quality games," Thibault said. "Every time I get in there, I want to give a good quality effort and this game was big for me and great for the team."

"Before the break, we were playing well and to get the four points against a team like Dallas and this team, which lately has been having success, (was special)," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "Tonight was a emotional game and we kept our composure and we liked the way we finished the game. The third period was excellent for us."

Shane Doan netted his 16th goal, Steven Reinprecht added his third and Tellqvist stopped 25 shots for the Coyotes, who have lost five of their last eight games.