Sidney Crosby never ceases to amaze.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all from our captain, he does something even more extraordinary to grab your attention.
Take Canada’s must-have 5-3 victory over Finland yesterday afternoon. Canada had built a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead, thanks in part to Crosby’s laser-precise pass off the end boards to fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon on the fourth goal.
However, just when the game seemed all-but-a-wrap, the plucky Finns stormed back with a fury in the third period, striking for three unanswered goals in just over five minutes, including a pair by former Pen Mikael Granlund within a 23-second span.
With over a minute left in the game and goalie Jordan Binnington dissolving like an earthen dam during a monsoon, Canada was in real danger of letting the game slip away.
Then Sid stepped up. Or more accurately, stepped into…
With precisely 60 ticks left on the clock, Granlund sliced through the neutral zone to receive a pass. Just as he reached for the puck at the red line…WHAM…he was flattened on a bristling body check by No. 87 in red.
Yep, Crosby.
Not only did Sid separate Granlund from the puck, he quickly regained his skates and had the presence of mind to bat down a short pass from Sam Reinhart before driving the biscuit 100 feet into an empty net.
Just incredible.
It’s one thing for 20-somethings like the Tkachuks to get involved physically. But a 37-year-old legend? Oh, and Sid’s setup on the fourth Canada goal came partly as a result of his trademark greasy play along the wall, not to mention extraordinary vision and sense of anticipation.
Has there ever been a more complete player in the history of the sport?
I think not.
As his coach, Jon Cooper, so aptly noted, “In our country, he (Sid) walks on water.”
He does that in the ‘Burgh, too.
A lot.
The Price You Pay
While Canada dispatched Finland to set up a Final showdown with the United States, Team USA lost to Sweden last night, 2-1.
Worse for the U.S., key players are dropping like flies. Team captain Auston Matthews, backline thumper Charlie McAvoy and inspirational hammer Matthew Tkachuk all missed yesterday’s game.
Following a handful of incredibly physical and forceful shifts, one-man wrecking crew Brady Tkachuk was injured while driving to the net and missed the rest of the game.
How does the old saying go? If you live by the sword you die by it?
With Canada surely out for blood in Thursday’s rematch, it doesn’t bode well for coach Mike Sullivan’s red, white and blue crew.
Indeed, if the aforementioned players can’t go, Sully and his staff will need to devise a plan to keep Crosby, MacKinnon and Connor McDavid in check. To say nothing of puck-moving defenseman Cale Makar, who returned to action yesterday.
Good luck with that.
Coveted Player Indeed
My goodness, is Granlund proving a lot of people wrong.
Thought to be in decline only a couple of seasons ago, he led Team Finland with three goals and was arguably their best and most impactful player.
When then-Pens GM Ron Hextall acquired the hard-working forward at the 2023 trade deadline, he described Granlund as a “coveted player,” a comment for which he was ridiculed.
Somewhere Hexy must be smiling.
