Sidney Crosby had craved this phone call for years.
He wanted it desperately from the time he watched Team Canada — captained by a guy who would become his landlord a few years later — win a gold medal at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.
But when word finally arrived yesterday morning that he had been selected to represent his country at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Crosby wasn’t there to hear it.
NEWARK, N.J. — Brent Johnson was having one of those games, the kind when a goalie just knows he’s going to stop everything he sees.
New Jersey threw 32 pucks at him, and Johnson got a skate or a stick or a glove on every last one of ‘em.
Except for the one he never saw until he fished it out of the net.
Trouble is, that turned out to be the only goal the Devils needed in what became a 2-0 victory against the Penguins at the Prudential Center last night.
Niclas Bergfors scored it at 1:48 of the opening period, when his shot from below the hash mark along the right-wing boards sneaked past several Penguins and ended up behind Johnson.
thanks to Pensburgh!
The combination of Sidney Crosby scoring clutch goals at one end of the rink and Marc-Andre Fleury making timely saves at the other was potent enough to lead the Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship in June. Executive Director of Team Canada Steve Yzerman hopes the duo has enough magic left up their sleeves to deliver their second major victory in eight months – a gold medal in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Crosby and Fleury received the phone call they have anticipated their entire lives on Wednesday afternoon when it was confirmed both will be representing Team Canada in the Olympic Games scheduled for Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Both players will be making their debuts on the Olympic stage.
Neither Crosby’s nor Fleury’s selection to the squad was much of a surprise based upon the way each has elevated his game during the past two postseasons. During back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final Crosby has scored 58 points (21G-37A) in 44 games while Fleury has posted a 30-14 record. As a vice president for the Detroit Red Wings, Yzerman has had a front-row seat for the ‘Crosby and Fleury Show’ as Detroit has been the Penguins’ opponent during both Finals.
BUFFALO — The Penguins failed to hold a three-goal lead and lost to Buffalo, 4-3, at HSBC Arena tonight.
It was the first time this season the Penguins (26-13-1) have lost after building a three-goal advantage and just the second time they’ve lost when scoring as many as three goals.
Jordan Staal put the Penguins up, 1-0, at 4:08 of the opening period by swatting a Tyler Kennedy rebound past Sabres goalie Ryan Miller from between the left circle and the crease for his 11th of the season.
Kennedy’s assist was his first point in his past 12 games. He had been a healthy scratch for the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to Toronto Sunday night at Mellon Arena.
Sidney Crosby has always focused on carving out his own path. But his career is starting to resemble those of the great players who came before him.
The 22-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain was named The Canadian Press male athlete of the year Monday, joining an exclusive club by earning the recognition for a second time.
Only 12 hockey players have won the Lionel Conacher Award since it was established in 1932 and just six of those men have received it more than once. Crosby joins multiple-time winners Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Bobby Hull, Phil Esposito, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
This looked like a gift — yes, another one — for the Penguins from the NHL schedule-maker.
Yet another game against another luckless opponent that had to play in some other city the previous night, then travel to face the Penguins, who hadn’t done anything more strenuous than operating a remote control 24 hours earlier.
The Penguins have padded their points total a lot lately against such clubs, and getting a chance to spend an evening with Toronto one night after the Maple Leafs lost an overtime game against Montreal seemed like an opportunity to do it again.
But the circumstance were different this time. And so was the outcome.
