The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Islanders 5-0, but obviously that wasn't the story of the night. Sidney Crosby returned from missing the previous 61 regular-season games with a concussion, and promptly needed just 5:24 to score his first goal and finished with two goals and two assists in 15:54 of ice time.
Here are seven facts from Monday night's rout of the Islanders.
1. The Islanders might've been the best opponent for Crosby to comeback against. In 34 career games against the Isles, Crosby has 20 goals and 66 points, four more points than his 26 goals, 36 assists in 36 games against the Philadelphia Flyers. With his assist on Evgeni Malkin's power-play goal in the second period, that makes 22 career power-play assists against the Islanders; once again most versus any other NHL team.
2. The game was Crosby's 21st career four-point night, with six of them coming against the Islanders. Pens and Isles play three more times this season: Dec. 10 on Long Island and then a home-and-home in late-March.
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3. Via TSN Research, Crosby moved up 243 spots in the NHL scoring race with four points. He's now 25 points behind Phil Kessel for the NHL scoring lead. Earlier Monday, Bodog set the over/under for Crosby's point total at 80.5. Which are you taking? Crosby was also an 8/1 favorite for the Hart Trophy, according to Bodog.
4. With his four-point night, Crosby has as many points or more than seven Islanders forwards who have played at least 15 games. He's also five goals behind Alex Ovechkin. Start the Sid vs. Ovie hype machine!
5. The Islanders' loss drops them to 5-10-3 on the season. The loss was their 12th in their last 14 games. A year ago, the team went 0-9-1 before firing then-head coach Scott Gordon with a record of 4-10-3. What does the future hold for Jack Capuano?
6. Brooks Orpik scored his second of the season. In 525 NHL games, Orpik has 11 goals. He hasn't scored more than two in a season during his nine-year career. The rugged defenseman is on a bit of a scoring tear for him, having potted both goals in a four-game span. Orpik hasn't scored twice that close together since the 2005-06 season when he tallied two in a six-game span.
7. Aside from the points, Crosby was also dominant in the faceoff dot by winning 14 of 21 draws, including five of eight in the defensive zone. Dating back to last season, Crosby has had a winning record in the circle in 15 of his last 16 games with the only loss coming against the Washington Capitals.
Here's Crosby's grand entrance:
Here's a look at Sid the Kid's four-point night:
Photo credit: Canadian Press
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