Sidney Crosby on His Game: I’m Trying to Find it

There were plenty of light-hearted distractions Monday for Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, but he also took a few minutes to offer an evaluation of his performance through 10 games.

That wasn’t so light-hearted.

The Penguins are 3-6-1, have lost five in a row (0-4-1), including an 0-3-1 trip to western Canada. A game at home Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild figures to stir some emotions – former Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to make his final NHL start in Pittsburgh.

That was the primary line of questions for Crosby during an interview with a flock of reporters after practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex – a session that was interrupted by laughter when Wild general manager and former Crosby teammate/linemate Bill Guerin crashed the interview briefly.

But Crosby turned serious when asked about his game. There long has been a notion that as Crosby goes, so go the Penguins. However, he has one goal, six assists and is a minus-7 in 10 games. He has one point, an assist, during the Penguins losing streak. He’s not satisfied with his play at either end of the ice.

“I’m trying to find it, obviously,” Crosby said of the game that has him chugging toward the Hockey Hall of Fame. “If I had the answers, I’d probably be doing better. I’ll just say that I’ll work through it. I’ll find a way to get back on track.

“It definitely hasn’t been easy. I don’t feel like my game’s where it needs to be. It’s up to me to put in the work and find it.

“It just starts with trying to generate a little bit more, as far as chances, and once you start to get those you build off that. You build confidence.”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan sidestepped a request to evaluate Crosby’s game. He instead broadened it to the team as a whole.

“I don’t think as a group we’ve played to the level of our expectations,” Sullivan said. “I think it starts with predictability amongst ourselves, collective effort, whatever phrase or adjective you want to use. We need a stronger team game, and I think that would help individuals. We’ve got to establish more structure on both sides of the puck. That’s been our challenge.”

Crosby, 37, has won Stanley Cups and top NHL individual hardware. He reached 1,600 career points earlier this month. He has a chance to pass Wayne Gretzky and become the all-time league leader in seasons averaging at least a point game. This would be his 20^th, but he’s not at that level or on that pace early on.

In addition, Crosby has long had a reputation for being one of the best 200-foot players. He was critical of his defensive play this season.

“Even before (finding the offense), being on for (an average of nearly) two goals a game against isn’t ideal, especially when you’re not producing as much,” he said. “So I think just starting there, trying to make sure that we’re not on for goals against. Hopefully, that will create more offense.”

If Monday’s practice is an indication, Crosby will get a new linemate Tuesday – fellow star center Evgeni Malkin moved to the wing and practiced with Crosby and Rickard Rakell.

“Whatever’s going to translate into wins, whatever the combinations are,” Crosby said. “I don’t think we change anything other than, hopefully, with losing some here we find another level of desperation and urgency and find a way to get back into the win column.”

And he would like to find a way to get back into the nearly exclusive column he has carved out for his level of play.