Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby was shooting plenty in his first four games of 2013-14, but only had two goals to show for his 16 shots. Those hands got hotter on Saturday, however, as his hat trick (and assist) drove the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It began as a duel, as Crosby traded second-period goals with Steven Stamkos:
Crosby’s first power-play tally:
Stamkos answered back three minutes later:
Crosby, 26, took over in the third period, collecting two more goals for a hat trick:
As you can see from his first two goals, Crosby hasn’t allowed his history of concussions to deter him from going to the “hard” areas to score goals. That nose for the net paid off big-time for Pittsburgh tonight.
He also helped set up Matt Niskanen’s game-winner, which came with less than 20 seconds left in the third period: