Sidney Crosby’s Sunday afternoon in Philly:
A shift diary for the “greatest player in the world”; how he affected the game, and how the game, at times an out of control penalty-fest, affected his shifts and opportunity.

This isn't pro or anti Sid, just a micro-view of one significant player's hockey game. Hockey studies.

1st Period:

00:00 - :22
Started the game, led a quick rush, forced a Flyers icing.

2:14-2:39
Chipped puck in, battled, Flyers rush led to Philly scoring chance. Extracurriculars after whistle led to penalties and 4 on 4.

Jordan Staal scores for Pitt. 1-0 Pens at 3:52

3:52-4:50
Still 4 on 4, won draw, but Flyers controlled play and put on some offensive pressure.

Pittsburgh on the Power Play at 5:14.

6:33-6:44
2nd unit of power play, lined up at RW on draw. Staal lost draw, Philly rushed and scored a short-handed goal. Minus for Crosby. 1-1 score.

6:44-7:24
Dump in, playing with Malkin. No shots. Shift ended with a cross checking penalty on Kris Letang.

Philly scored on ensuing power play to go up 2-1.

10:54-11:15
Mostly Philly pressure and a shot on goal.

TV timeout

4th line gets first shift out of TV timeout. They lose offensive zone draw, led to odd-man rush and goal for Philly at 11:45. 3-1

11:45-12:02
Offensive zone draw and pressure for Pittsburgh. Sid backhander hits side of net, he whacks at puck and Bryzgalov; gong show ensues. As it calmed, Crosby sticked aside Voracek's glove as Voracek went to pick it up. More nonsense. Eventually Sid gets fighting major after brief scrap with Giroux. To box for 5 minute major.

Neal scores from Niskanen and Malkin at 15:17. 3-2 Philly lead.

Matt Read answers right back for Flyers at 15:40. 4-2 score.

Out of the box after whistle at 18:48.

TV timeout in final minute.

19:20-20:00
D zone faceoff win. Two rushes. Scoring chance with two seconds left. With Malkin. Sid chirps Bryzgalov after horn.


2nd Period

No Sid for 1st shift of period, Philly went on PP, so no Sid for a bit with Pens on PK

2:25-3:25
Mostly in D-zone

5:00-6:10
On the forecheck, good pressure, but no team shots on goal. Two regroups and rushes.
TV timeout

7:52-8:39
Created scoring chance for Dupuis.

9:13-10:31
On first power play unit with Malkin, with Grossman off for kneeing. Sustained puck movement. Goal. Neal from Malkin and Crosby. 4-3 Philly lead.

TV timeout. After TV timeout, Kunitz took a tripping penalty, which kept Sid off the ice because of the Penalty Kill. At 14:18, Read scored on the PP to make it 5-3 Flyers.

14:18-15:14
Uneventful. With Malkin. Mostly neutral zone.

Pitt goal at 15:40, Staal from Neal and Kunitz. 5-4 Flyers.

Kunitz takes slashing call in offensive zone at 17:22. Kills pressure, and with PK, keeps Sid on the bench.

Power play goal for Wayne Simmonds. 6-4 Flyers at 19:14 mark.

19:14-20:00
With Malkin, pressure at beginning and end of shift.


3rd Period
(Brent Johnson takes over in net for Pitt)

0:00-:27
Jagr to Giroux while Pens stand around. Minus for Sid. 7-4 Philly.

1:49-2:39
Neutral zone draw lost. Harmless rushes both ways.

4:03-5:12
Mostly harmless. One good centering pass off bouncing puck in corner.

5:58-6:54
Failed rush. D-zone contact with Voracek. Failed clear kept Pitt pinned. PHL offside. TV timeout.

7:55-8:42
Two scoring chances for Philly. One high quality for Talbot.

10:27-11:06
Excellent pressure; puck possession deep, but no quality shots on goal. TV timeout.

11:06-12:21
Stayed out after TV timeout. Philly lining up on blueline at this point with 3 goal lead. One shot wide for Sid.

13:16-14:07
Offensive zone draw off Flyers icing, lost by Malkin. Regroup, dump-in, nothing. Re-group, rush, drop pass, shot on goal for Dupuis. TV timeout.

15:05 (ish)-15:18
This shift start is convoluted. Sid hopped on just before major melee in front of benches. Crosby takes roughing minor.

Talbot scores on PP for Philly off of gong show. 8-4 Flyers.

17:38-18:18
Power play, offensive zone draw. Wins draw but no shots. Regroup, great shot/save.

Final: Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 4. (Flyers with 3-0 series lead)

Sidney Crosby – 1 assist. 1 point. Minus-2. 1 shot. 7 PIM 17:38 total ice time. (small total mostly had to do with him spending time in the penalty box and Pittsburgh otherwise spending plenty of time on the PK)

"You know what, we don't like each other." - Crosby


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