Sidney Crosby plays New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins upbeat on centre’s return-NHL News
Perhaps all did not go well for Pittsburgh Penguins’ centre, Sidney Crosby, on his second return to the National Hockey League (NHL), in the game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, on Thursday, March 15, 2012.
The player was seen sporting fat upper lip at the end of game, which, he said, was a result of him being bitten by a puck early in the game. Yet his return was much celebrated in Penguins’ 5-2 win.
It was the first game for Crosby since December 05, 2012, when he reported facing concussion-like symptoms once again. The injury forced him out for the second time in the season.
His earlier return happened in November 2011 and he suffered the problem again after having played mere eight games. At then, he was coming out of a 10-month absence owing to the same injury.
This season, he has already missed 61 games. Rangers’ game was his 11th in past 15 months, and he contributed to the team’s win with an assist and a plus-3 ratings.
Crosby’s November 2011 return in the game against the New York Islanders was a better one, as he had managed to give four-point performance. The game was won by Penguins.
However, the highlight of his latest return was that he felt good throughout the game and did not report reoccurrence of the symptoms or any related problem.
The only negative of the game for him was the upper lip bite, which came through a minor strike of puck.
After the game, Crosby said:
"I felt pretty good. There's still some rust there, and that's going to take time. As for the timing, it got a little bit better or at least it felt a little more comfortable as the game went on.”
This could be due to the fact that the player entered the ice with a quite different mindset this time. Instead of trying to initiate contact to test his fitness and strength, he played a normal game and refrained from experimenting too much.
It was considered to be a good sign that the player has come to realisation of the problem and worked out the game plan accordingly. Last time, he had attempted to initiate contact straightway, which ended up aggravating the problem.
He pointed out:
"I felt like last time I was probably trying to test myself a lot more than I needed to. Tonight, I wasn't looking for it quite as much. I was able to do that leading up to the games so I don't have to go looking for it in them.”
Penguins’ coach, Dan Bylsma, was also upbeat about the return of the player, and expressed pleasure over the noted change in his approach.
He said he witnessed the shift in the player’s mindset the minute he had walked out on the ice and that was something he was going to speak about with him.
Overall, the management was satisfied with the recovery progress and fitness level of the player, which is certainly going to help them consolidate their standing in the Eastern Conference.
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