New York: Sidney Crosby returned from his latest concussion scare on Tuesday to fire the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Crosby, who missed the first six games of the season after being concussed in training earlier this month, scored a goal to launch Pittsburgh’s fight back in the second period.
Crosby had looked off the pace as the Panthers moved into an early 2-0 lead through Reilly Smith and Mark Pysyk.
However Crosby’s power-play goal was followed by goals from Carl Hagelin and Eric Fehr to complete Pittsburgh’s win.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan praised Crosby’s performance, saying it augured well for the rest of the season.
“I thought he didn’t miss a beat,” Sullivan said. “He was winning face-offs, he was battling down low, he scores a big goal for us. I think Sid’s going to be fine.”
Crosby acknowledged some ring rust but is confident his edge will return when he has more practice under his belt.
“Timing and execution, I think I need to work on that a little bit,” Crosby said.
“It’s been tough to get any practices, so I kind of expect that. ... It’s going to be a little bit of a process (for a while), but hopefully it can generate some things.”
Crosby has a history of concussions after a collision in the 2011 Winter Classic outdoor game set off a long recovery that shortened two seasons for him.
— AFP
