Crosby continues to thrive against Flyers

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby was sitting in his stall in the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room when the horde of a few dozen reporters made a beeline toward him. The doors to the room had just opened to the press after a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, and it was easy to see where all the microphones, cameras and notepads were headed.
Watching across the room was Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist, who couldn't help himself. He started doing play-by-play as the chaotic scene unfolded in front of him.

"Here they come, racing towards Sidney Crosby as usual," Hornqvist said with a chuckle, making sure everyone in the room could hear him. "Then again, what else is new?"
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Nothing. At least not when it comes to the Penguins forward torturing the Flyers, something he's been doing since he entered the NHL in 2005.
It was no different on Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. In a game with such significant implications in the shoehorned Eastern Conference standings, Crosby proved to be the difference maker once again.
With a victory in regulation, the Flyers could have pulled into a tie in points (90) with the Penguins for second in the Metropolitan Division. Crosby was a significant reason why that didn't happen.

With the score tied 3-3, Crosby put the Penguins ahead 17 seconds into the third period with an outstanding individual effort, fighting off a check from Flyers forward Sean Couturier before picking the short-side top corner on Petr Mrazek.
After Couturier tied the game at 4-4 with 43 seconds remaining in regulation, Crosby struck again. This time he drilled a pass to Bryan Rust, who didn't even need to move his stick to deflect the puck in for the winner 2:25 into overtime.
For Crosby, being the hero against the Flyers comes naturally.
In sweeping the season series (4-0-0) from the Flyers (0-2-2) for the first time since 2006-07 when they went 8-0-0, Crosby had nine points (two goals, seven assists).
In his career, he has 93 points (38 goals, 55 assists) in 63 games against Philadelphia for a points-per-game average of 1.48. Against the rest of the League, Crosby has 1,017 points (370 goals, 647 assists) in 795 games for a points-per-game average of 1.28.
Maybe it's the fact he gets consistently gets booed whenever he plays in Philadelphia.
Maybe it simply stems from being a part of the Battle of Pennsylvania.
Whatever the reason, there is never a shortage of motivation for Crosby when he plays Philadelphia. Whenever he spots one of those orange-and-white Flyers jerseys, it's as if he sees red.

"I think that brings the best out of both teams, to be honest with you," Crosby said of the rivalry. "It's been that way for a long time and there are a lot of guys that have been on that team for a while and played us in a lot of different games over the years.
"I don't think you have a choice in these games or it's going to be a pretty long night. So you've got to be into it. They certainly were. It was a pretty good hockey game both ways."
Some observers in the Flyers dressing room mistakenly thought Crosby had scored the winner because his pass was delivered to the corner of the crease with the velocity of a shot.
"I was going for Rust all along," Crosby said. "I saw he had good position on the guy in front and he had his stick on the ice. I just tried to put it in that area for him."
One thing Rust has learned playing alongside Crosby: always be prepared to expect the unexpected.
"I think you've got to be aware of the play and you have to be aware when he has the puck because he can make plays a lot of guys can't make," Rust said. "And he makes them quick.
"I think that's why he is who he is."
The victory allowed the Penguins to remain in second in the division with 92 points, three behind the Washington Capitals and three ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Flyers.
The Flyers hold the first wild card into the playoffs from the East with 89 points, the same total as Columbus. The Blue Jackets own the tiebreaker.
The tight squeeze in the standings made the point earned from Couturier's late goal that much more precious for the Flyers.
"It's a big point," Couturier said. "It's for sure disappointing not coming out of here with two points, but we can build on this."
Couturier agreed the Flyers season-high shot total of 45 was an encouraging sign heading into back-to-back road games against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8:30 p.m ET; FS-SW+, NBCSP, NHL.TV) and Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
At the same time, Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning lamented that Crosby had been up to his usual destructive tricks against Philadelphia. Again. Just when you think he's going to shoot, he passes. And vice-versa.

"That's probably the difference between good players and great players," Manning said.
We all know which of those categories Crosby falls into.
Especially against the Flyers.