Sidney Crosby returned from a broken jaw on Friday and scored two goals in 7:22 minutes. That wasn’t enough as the New York Islanders pulled off a comeback 4-3 victory to even the series, but at least Crosby’s first game back can be seen as an isolated success, right?
Crosby might argue otherwise, given that he didn’t seem too happy with his performance after the game.
“I think that there’s definitely a little bit of rust,” Crosby told the Penguins’ website. “But there’s not a lot of time, so I’ve got to find a way to create things out there and be better.”
For his part, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was more upbeat in his assessment of the 25-year-old superstar.
“I thought he didn’t miss a beat,” Bylsma said. “He skated well, he was on pucks, he was strong. In addition to his two goals, he had a couple other dangerous situations and plays and was very good in the faceoff circle. I thought he was very good getting back in there after missing 13 games.”
As a team, the Penguins will have to shrug off last night’s loss as the series heads to Nassau Coliseum for Game 3 on Sunday.