It takes a lot of things to score at least one point in 25 consecutive National Hockey League games.
Consistency, for one.
Skilled teammates who finish your chances, for another.
Even some luck.
Apparently, the New York Islanders aren't on that list, and that's unforuntate, because last night at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, the Pittsburgh Penguins matched up against the Isles for the first time during Captain Sidney Crosby's extended run.
Pittsburgh was 11-1-1 against the Islanders the last 2 years and 16-4-1 dating back the last +, and since the Isles were the team that Crosby has scored more against than any team in his career, everything seemed ripe to keep the run going.
Instead, all New York did last night was trap the Penguins right to a grinding halt in a 2-1 shootout defeat, and end Crosby's streak in the process.
"It would have been nice to keep things going, but it was one of those games," Crosby said afterwards.
The Pens' were a little sluggish last night, but they also ran square into a New York squad that has recently instituted a new defensive system under their latest coach, Jack Capuano.
Worse, it seemed to me that part of their game plan last night included sending out a particular player to 'shadow' Crosby, since he had Frans Nielsen in his face most of the evening.
That tactic just isn't done a great deal in the NHL anymore. In the 1980's, it was a constant practice.
Still, Crosby had a few good chances in the game. He hit the crossbar at one point, and watched teammate Paul Martin miss a golden chance to get him a helper. For the most part, though, he was bottled up.
The Penguins couldn't even get him a point using trickery, which they might have been attempting with about 7 minutes left in the 1-1 tie game when the zebras called a penalty shot after deeming that Islanders' defenseman Bruno Gervais covered up the puck in the crease with his hand.
I wasn't able to see Gervais actually close his hand on the biscuit, but when the call was made, Pens' head coach Dan Blysma sent Crosby quickly over the boards and on to the ice in the hope of having him take the shot, despite the fact that he wasn't on the ice when the call was made.
With the little matter of a rule requiring that a person on the ice take the penalty shot in the situation when the puck is covered with a hand in the crease by someone not a goaltender, that effort didn't work, so Bylsma instead chose Kris Letang to take the shot.
While it was Letang's first career penalty shot, he has been very sick on them in the shootout, so the Penguins had to feel good about the chance to go up 2-1 fairly late in the game, even if it would have left Crosby still searching for a point.
Unforunately, Letang was stopped by Isles' netminder Rick DiPietro, and ultimately, the game went into overtime.
That was the 12th consecutive time a Penguin has been stopped on a penalty shot, by the way -- a rather dubious team record, if you ask me.
Anyway, Pittsburgh had a good chance in the extra frame -- not just to win the game, but have Crosby keep his streak alive -- when they were awared a power play for the final 75 seconds, but they didn't really get off a good scoring chance.
And so, at the end of 65 minutes, with Chris Conner having scored the Pens' only goal, and since any shootout goals don't count towards personal statistics, Sid's streak was over.
Worse, Crosby was stopped in the shootout, to boot. And while Letang and Evegni Malkin scored for the Penguins, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had a surprisingly rough time against the non-descript Islanders' shooters.
Coming into the shootout, Fleury had allowed only 1 goal on 9 attempts this year. For some reason, though, Rob Schremp, Neilsen, and P.A. Parentau -- with 12 less goals combined than Crosby has scored by himself this year -- all made it look easy against the Flower last night, and that was enough to give the Islanders a rare win against Pittsburgh.
Forgetting for a moment that Crosby's streak was starting to get more and more national attention as he chased the top 2 in league history -- 51 straight games held by Wayne Gretzky, and 46 straight by his owner, #66 -- the fact that Crosby was able to score for 25 straight games is an amazing accomplishment.
As it was, while it didn't even top Lemieux's 28 game run with the Pens, it still was the 11th longest ever in the history of the game, and the longest in the league in the last 18 seasons. Sid did an amazing job during the run, too, scoring 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in those 25 games.
Averaging 2 points per game during that run and knowing that he scored at least one in every game -- meaning that for every game he only scored one point, there was another game where he had at least 3 -- was pretty special.
But the reality is that too many variables go into scoring on any given night, especially in the league these days when it's generally harder to score than it was during the years Wayne and Mario were running up their streaks.
The fact that Sid's run is over right before the Winter Classic this weekend is extra disappointing, because you know the streak would have been something that everyone on NBC and in league circles talked about surrounding the game. It would have given an already-incredibly hyped game even more drama. As it is, we'll have to settle for the Penguins/Capitals.
Well, I think that will be fine, thankyouverymuch.
Heading into the Classic, after last night's shootout loss (and the point that goes with it), Pittsburgh has a 25-11-3 record, good for 53 points, currently first overall in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference, and overall NHL standings.
The Capitals, meanwhile, are 22-12-5, first in the Southeast Division, and 2nd in the East.
I'll have more on the Classic tomorrow, as the teams get ready, and as everyone weather-watches.
NOTES:
Brent Johnson dressed to back up Fleury in last night's game, which means the Pens' returned John Curry to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Forward Mike Comrie is now officially on the shelf and set to be babied by wife Hilary Duff for 3-4 months, which the team announced yesterday after revealing that he had recent, 'successful' hip surgery in Colorado. Of course, they didn't mention the Duff part. He may be back for the playoffs, but what role he might have at that time -- if any at all -- is almost impossible to guess at this point.
Meanwhile, center Jordan Staal continues to skate and practice with the team, which he's been doing for the last several days. He's involved in all puck drills and full contact, and is said to feel good. It remains to be seen whether he'll be cleared to play in the elements this weekend. I'm hoping he gets the chance, though. He deserves a little enjoyment in what has otherwise been a miserable season on the shelf for him so far.
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