Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins feasted on the division leading New York Rangers on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh dominated the flow of the game and ultimately a 6-1 score. The win puts Pittsburgh two points behind the Rangers in the Division with a game in hand.
Every single Penguins player was 50% or higher on the possession front. The New York Rangers were only able to muster up 17 shots on goal compared to the Penguins 38. It was the perfect blend of process and results.
MSG crowd erupts in a cheer when the Rangers get a shot on goal. They went 23:59 without one. So, yeah, tough night for the Rangers.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) November 24, 2016
Sidney Crosby scored two goals in the contest and has now regained his goal per game pace on the season. He has 14 goals in 14 games and that is good for the NHL lead. The goals are pouring in for Crosby and a big reason is that he has been hounding the net front area for tip plays like this
Crosby's goal scoring to start the year is among the franchise's best which is impressive considering Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr are a part of that
Sid with 14 goals in his 1st 14 GP. Only Pens w/ more after their 1st 14 GP of a season: Mario (3x, 19 in 92-93); Jagr (15 in 95-96).
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) November 24, 2016
Crosby also added an assist and now has 19 points in 14 games. He is eight off of the NHL lead held by Connor McDavid.
Phil Kessel continues put up points and is a point per game player with 20 points in 20 games. That is good for ninth overall in the NHL. Here is his playmaking ability on display
Goals are what Phil is known for and here's his famous snap shot beating Lundqvist high glove side
Matt Murray continues to play great hockey. He has the second highest even-strength save percentage in the NHL right now with 95.65%. Only Devan Dubnyk (Penguins opponent tomorrow) is better at 96.25%.
The early returns in 2016-17 on the goaltending front have Matt Murray significantly outplaying Marc-Andre Fleury albeit with less minutes
The biggest difference here is that Matt Murray is significantly outplaying his counterpart in the high danger category. Murray is making more of the tough saves so far this year.
Matt Murray's growing NHL sample continues to be encouraging and points to being a long term starter in the NHL with a high floor.
Happy Thanksgiving. The Penguins are back in action against Minnesota on Friday night.
Thanks for reading!