Maple Leafs manage rare feat in containing Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

TORONTO — Sidney Crosby was a nightmare for the Maple Leafs when they first met the defending Stanley Cup champions earlier this season. It would be a different story on Saturday evening.

The Leafs held Crosby, who leads the NHL with 21 goals this year, to just two shots in a quiet 20 minutes. The 29 year old notched an assist on the power play, but finished with a 33 per cent puck possession mark at even strength in Toronto’s 2-1 overtime win. 

It was just over a month earlier that the game’s best player dominated the Leafs, finishing with two points, six shots, 70 per cent success in the faceoff circle (16-23) and almost 70 per cent puck possession.

Toronto lost 4-1 that night in Pittsburgh.

Combating Crosby and his linemates, Conor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist, on Saturday was the matchup five-some customarily assigned to top lines for head coach Mike Babcock. That group includes the team’s top defensive pair of Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev as well as a Nazem Kadri-led forward unit that currently features Leo Komarov and, of late, Connor Brown.

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It was the same combination (save for Brown) that fared so poorly against Crosby in mid-November, but also one that’s performed pretty well for Toronto of late. The group came out on top in matchups against top lines for Arizona, San Jose and Colorado, the Leafs dropping all three games thanks in large part to an offence that’s gone cold.

“It’s just a normal game for us,” Komarov said after the 2-1 overtime victory against Pittsburgh, which snapped the three-game slide. “They didn’t really get any chances and we didn’t really get anything either … I think we did good work.”

“We didn’t let them score today. That’s the first important thing for us,” added Zaitsev, who tallied his first NHL goal in the win, also the Leafs first on home-ice since Nov. 26 against Washington.

The Leafs fired 18 attempts on goal when Crosby was on the ice (even strength) compared to just nine for the Penguins.

Rielly and Zaitsev, each logging upwards of 11 minutes against Crosby, finished at almost 70 per cent possession for the night, Kadri, Brown and Komarov all around 60 per cent.

The group said they tried to be physical with the Cole Harbour native and limit opportunities for him to gain speed through the neutral zone. Zaitsev noted that playing Crosby required constant focus, one slip up likely to result in a goal or scoring chance.

Kadri, who entered the NHL as a one-dimensional offensive pivot, has evolved into duties that see him matched against Crosby-types every night. Efforts like Saturday, in which the assignment was completed without much flaw, were every bit as satisfying on a personal level as those in which goals, assists and points filled the scoresheet, he said.

Adding the victory was “really the most satisfying part about it”. 

“We were just frustrating him a little bit, just being all over him,” Kadri said. “When you’re a skill player and you’re constantly running into people and there’s not much space out there it gets super annoying. And I know that firsthand. Just try and get in his face whenever you can.”

Crosby has owned the Leafs historically. He entered the night with 23 goals and 53 points in 35 career games against Toronto, including the two-point outing earlier this season.

Babcock wasn’t overly excited with the Crosby containment effort. Coaching the Penguins captain a number of times over the year with Team Canada, he noted that Crosby had played the night before, a 1-0 overtime loss to the Kings.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Crosby, he might go the odd night without hurting you badly,” Babcock said. “But let’s not get carried away.”

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press