Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby (L) scores against Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere in a shootout at their NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 28, 2010. REUTERS/ Jason CohnJASON COHN/Reuters
Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave it the old college try for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there was just a little too much Sidney Crosby for them.
The young superstar followed up his three assists on Saturday with two goals last night against the Leafs plus one more in the shootout to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 win. The shootout loss broke a two-game winning streak for the Leafs, with both of those wins coming in overtime.
Giguere spent all of his NHL career in the Western Conference, so he saw relatively little of Crosby. Last night's game was his first meeting with the 22-year-old phenomenon.
"I asked at the bench what [Crosby]does in shootouts and I got eight different answers," Giguere said.
The reason for that, Crosby said, is that he never tries to do the same thing twice. The shootout goal was the 20th of his career in 48 tries and the 13th to decide the game.
"I've tried to mix things up," Crosby said. "Everyone sees all those shootout goals so it's hard to mix things up. But you try to do the best you can."
Crosby did not try anything fancy in the shootout, just moved in and ripped a shot that glanced off the crossbar with a loud ping and went in. His linemate Pascal Dupuis also scored, but Crosby's goal clinched the shootout because none of the Leafs shooters could beat Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Giguere and the Leafs almost escaped their last game at Mellon Arena with a win. The Leafs goaltender made a great save on Crosby in the last five minutes of the third period after he split defencemen Francois Beauchemin and Dion Phanuef, but Matt Cooke scored on a deflection with two minutes, 48 seconds to go to send the game into overtime.
The first half of the game went as expected between two teams who played the night before. It was a dull, slow affair, although it gradually got better through the second period and turned out to be quite entertaining from the third period on.
"There's no excuses - they played yesterday as well," Giguere said of the loss. "This is the NHL. There are a lot of back-to-back [games] It's the reality. There is no excuse for being tired if you are a young team."
Crosby scored both regulation-time goals, which brought his season total to 47, from the slot - although the Leafs talked before the game about the importance of not giving him any time or room.
"He's very explosive when he gets the puck so you can't give him any time or room," Giguere said. "He can shoot, but he also passes the puck better than anybody.
"He's a special player. If you give guys like that time in front [of the net] they will score. We gave him too much time."
Actually, the goals broke a slump for Crosby. While he has been piling up the assists, Crosby went seven games without a goal until he met the Leafs.
"I didn't know he hadn't scored," Giguere said. "I don't read the paper."
Mellon Arena, known not-so-affectionately as The Igloo for its shape, will be shuttered when the Penguins move into their new arena across the street, the Consol Energy Center, next season.
The Igloo was built in 1961, which makes it the oldest rink in the NHL for now, but few will miss the damp, dingy barn.
"It's time to get into the [21st]century," Giguere said. "The ice wasn't very good. The rink was very humid, very hot."
Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik also had a big night with three assists. Tyler Kennedy had the other Pittsburgh goal.
Phil Kessel, with his 30th of the season, scored for the Leafs along with Colton Orr, who tied his career high with his third goal of the season, Carl Gunnarsson and Tyler Bozak.