Later that evening, every time Crosby even got near the puck, the crowd cheered. He gave them plenty more to get excited about, as Crosby and his fellow franchise center Evgeni Malkin put on a show, combining for all five of Pittsburgh’s goals in the contest. Malkin had a hat trick, while Crosby tallied twice.
Afterward, Crosby said the reception meant a lot, especially at this point in his career. “You look at different experiences over the years, and I don’t think that stuff ever gets old when you’re in positions like this,” Crosby said. “It’s a preseason game, you haven’t played in five months, I think it’s definitely motivating when you have a turnout like we did and you see how excited people are to see an NHL game up close. I think it’s something that sticks with you. It’s a great welcome, and we appreciate the hospitality. It’s a great hockey community, and hopefully we put on a good show for them here.”
This is the lineup Pittsburgh dressed for the contest:
Anthony Beauvillier – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Blake Lizotte – Evgeni Malkin – Rickard Rakell
Michael Bunting – Kevin Hayes – Cody Glass
Jonathan Gruden – Sam Poulin – Boko Imama
Matt Grzelcyk – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – Harrison Brunicke
Owen Pickering – Dan Renouf
Tristan Jarry played the first half of the game in goal before Filip Larsson took over. Lizotte didn’t even get to play a shift after getting hit in the face with a puck on the bench. “Scary thing. He never saw it coming. That was a tough one,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think the guys were used to the bench being that far down into the zone. That’s a little bit different in this rink.”
In addition to the special atmosphere, tonight marked the preseason debut for most of Pittsburgh’s players, which meant they were all looking forward to finally seeing real game action for the first time in months. With Ottawa also fielding a strong roster, things were competitive and chippy.
The Penguins got off to a slow start, understandable in the circumstances, with Crosby ensuring they went into the first intermission down by only a goal after re-directing a feed from Kris Letang.