Crosby ‘Sizzles’, Penguins win second consecutive game

On a night of another milestone for the Pittsburgh Penguins, their best player — for the second straight game — came through in the clutch.

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Captain Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the second straight game, leading the Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens and securing a win for defenseman Kris Letang’s 1,100th game.

Forward Blake Lizotte, playing in his second game in a Penguins uniform after missing the team’s first 10 games with a concussion, added an empty-net goal at the end to seal the deal. Goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves on 26 shots in Montreal.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s game:

– Crosby’s first snipe was beautiful, and it’s been fun to see the captain’s excitement over the past few games. But Rickard Rakell deserves a lot of credit for making that play possible.

The puck was dumped behind and around Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault, and Rakell rushed to the corner and won a puck battle along the boards. He then turned and fired a pass between Alex Newhook’s legs and onto Crosby’s stick.

Just an excellent example of hustle and strong boardplay from Rakell. He wins a lot of puck battles and has the ability to create “something out of nothing,” as head coach Mike Sullivan has alluded to. The acceleration and speed training he did last summer also paid off here.

Crosby also had high praise for his teammate.

“’Raks’ is very strong on the puck,” Crosby said. “On that play he strips the man, and I think he’s done a great job of finding the weak spots to make shots and using his shot that way, but he’s also been really strong with pucks, keeping them tight and make plays. We can read each other well and generate some good looks.

I feel like I’m repeating myself, but Rakell has been very good for the Penguins this season.

– As for Crosby, I’m not sure there’s much more to say at this point. He has seven points from his last three games. He took into account the seven goals prior to Lizotte’s empty-netter, and he scored their last four goals earlier.

He’s just a man on a mission at this point. He was spectacular and makes his slow start seem like a distant memory. And it’s no coincidence that the Penguins’ other two best offensive players this season — Evgeni Malkin and Rakell — were by his side to help him along the way.

I was skeptical as to whether loading the top line would work or not. But man, has it worked so far? It’s certainly not sustainable, especially against the better teams in the league.

But boy, is it fun to watch them dominate games right now?

– Overall I liked Valtteri Puustinen’s game so far. But I did notice tonight that he was outmatched physically and lost some key puck battles in the defensive zone.

He had some opportunities in the offensive zone, so it might not be too much to read into. Just an observation.

– Although the Penguins controlled the game for the most part, there was an element of sloppiness on both sides in this game, especially in the neutral zone.

I’m not sure if the ice was bad or if the clearances just didn’t line up. But there were just a lot of mishandled passes, players falling to the ice, and pucks being fired.

– Ryan Graves is playing with a lot of confidence right now. He is very involved.

He was all over the strike zone tonight. He skated with purpose and made plays to create opportunities. He was quite strong during the escape. He made some nice plays to break up passes and also cut off corners in the defensive zone.

Really strong play from him. I like what I see from him this season, and Graves playing well is a really good thing for the Penguins. If Matt Grzelcyk continues to struggle, I see him moving up the lineup soon. He at least deserved a chance in those minutes.

– A couple more players who had strong games – despite not appearing on the scoresheet – were Michael Bunting and Anthony Beauvillier.

Bunting is physically involved and is the scrappy, disruptive forward that people are used to seeing. He goes into the dirty areas and causes chaos in front of the net, and that’s what he does when he’s at his best. He even got a healthy spear in a very bad spot from Arbor Xhekaj in front of the net after poking Montembault for a rebound.

There will certainly be a goal in store for him soon. Sullivan said the same thing in his presser.

As for Beauvillier? He was strong all night on the leadoff, forcing a pair of offensive zone turnovers and making a spectacular stick play early in the third period to rob ___ of a scoring opportunity.

There was a wide open net to Nedeljkovic’s right and ___ swung toward the open cage. Beauvillier hit at the same time, moving the puck out of harm’s way in the air before ___ could make a play on it.

Good stuff from both.

– Overall, the Penguins have played much tighter defensive games over the past two. They gave up some good chances towards the end of both, but otherwise they shut down Anaheim and Montreal for most of the 60 minutes in each match.

It’s worth noting that the Penguins defeated two of the bottom players in the league. So far this season they have struggled against the better teams in the league.

They have a tough divisional schedule this week, playing the New York Islanders (who, while unimpressive this season, have given the Penguins fits) on Tuesday, before playing back-to-backs with the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals on Thursday and Friday .

Pittsburgh needs to find a way to use some of the momentum they’ve gained and play responsible defensive hockey against these teams – because they won’t miss when given “easy offensive opportunities.”