Sidney Crosby, Penguins look for ways out of scoring slump
The Pittsburgh Penguins have 19 goals in their past nine games. Their best player doesn’t have a goal – and only three assists – in that time.
“Part of my job is (to score goals), so I have got to find a way to do that,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “I don’t think that I’m OK with it, but there are other parts of the game l need to be good at when it’s not going in.”
Crosby, on whole, has drawn raves for his complete game from his coaches and observers. But was once assured for him – a 100-point season – now is unlikely. Before Crosby’s scoring slump began in a loss to St. Louis on March 16, he had 10 goals and 30 points in a 16-game stretch.
But he’s been stuck at 33 goals on the season for almost three weeks. He has 95 points with two games to play in the regular season.
“I wouldn’t say I accept it,” Crosby said, “but I try to go out there and get one every night. And I think at some points it goes in easier than others – but I think this time of year you wanna find ways to score.”
The Penguins have won just four of these nine games since the offense has struggled to produce; they have scored exactly one goal in five of those contests.
“I think maybe (the Penguins can) simplify (their offensive approach),” wing Bryan Rust said. “Don’t try to over-think, maybe don’t try to press it, get more pucks to the net and traffic to the net, and that’s going to help us score some more goals.”
Coach Mike Sullivan is trying a tweak to the forward lines, too, to help jumpstart the scoring, moving Jared McCann to the first line with Crosby and Jake Geuntzel while moving Rust to a line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Although the line juggling was in part the result of Malkin’s return to practice from injury, McCann’s promotion makes sense in that he has 11 goals in 30 games with the Penguins.
“When Jared is at his best, he’s utilizing his speed and he can utilize his shot,” Sullivan said. “He can really shoot the puck. One thing that jumped out at us when we first got him was his shot and his skating – and it’s a pretty dangerous combination.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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