Slap Me Silly, Sidney!
Mark Recchi, who set up the captain's first goal, reflects as Crosby approaches 500
After making his long-awaited debut on Oct. 5, 2005 in New Jersey, the 18-year-old phenom collected an assist in each of his first two games, which were both on the road. The Penguins then returned to Pittsburgh for the city's much-anticipated first look at their new franchise center on Oct. 8 versus Boston, and Crosby did not disappoint, saving his first goal for the home crowd.
After recording a pair of helpers at the end of the first period and start of the second, the Penguins were on a power play late in the middle frame. The sequence started with Crosby carrying the puck out of the corner and sweeping a shot towards the net that hit a Bruins stick and bounced to a crashing Ziggy Palffy.
The rebound then popped out to Mark Recchi, who quickly slid it over to Crosby on the doorstep - and 'Sid the Kid' buried it past Bruins goalie Hannu Toivonen for the first of what is about to be 500 goals in the NHL.
"It was kind of a scramble, and I tapped it over to him," Recchi, now an assistant coach with New Jersey, recounted ahead of Pittsburgh's 4-2 win over the Devils on Sunday at Prudential Center. "He banged it home. I remember his first goal."
Crosby jumped into the glass behind the net with his arms raised triumphantly, with Recchi, Palffy, Sergei Gonchar and Ric Jackman all skating over to congratulate him as Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange cried, "Sidney Crosby has scored his first goal in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform! Oh, slap me silly, Sidney!"
The Penguins faithful in attendance to witness history were all on their feet, giving the teenager a lengthy standing ovation as Crosby went to the bench and received fist bumps, hugs and pats on the helmet from his teammates who were absolutely thrilled for him.
"It's a great feeling, being a teammate that was a part of that," Recchi said. "Especially since he's the first overall pick, there's a lot of pressure and everything that goes with being a first overall. You want him to get off to a great start. And to get it out of the way fairly early was great. Obviously right away, everybody knew he was such a great person. You could tell right away. So you're always pushing for those guys."
And to be a part of the actual stat line - Crosby, his first in the NHL, from Recchi and Palffy - is a pretty awesome feeling, too.
"It's special. It really is," Recchi said. "He's gonna go down as top-five, top-10, whatever he ends up being. He's gonna be up there. And just to be part of something like that is really cool for somebody."
While that tally will always be special, for Recchi, the most memorable goal that Crosby scored came the next season when the Penguins hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 7, 2007.
"I remember the one I made a crappy pass over and he dove," Recchi said with a laugh. "It was right at the end of a period. He dove, but that's just typical. They always say you can never make a bad pass to a great player. That was a perfect example, because it wasn't a great pass."
Evgeni Malkin, who has earned the most assists on Crosby's goals over the years, didn't pick up a point on that one - but also singles it out as his favorite because of the determination that Sid showed on the play.
"I was behind and I saw everything. I'm not just talking about his jump; I'm talking about he tried so hard to score," Malkin said. "He started in the D-zone and he saw Mark Recchi a little bit in front of him. And he just started to skate so hard and go in a straight line, and I just knew he was going to score because he went so hard. He was so hungry to score and I remember he dove and just a little chip to the puck. It's an amazing goal."
Coincidentally, Crosby ended up assisting on Recchi's own 500th goal, scored later that month on Jan. 26, 2007. Recchi knows from experience just how difficult it is to reach that milestone, as he is currently just one of 45 players in NHL history to do so. And when Crosby, who enters Tuesday's game vs. Philadelphia with 499 goals, gets there, he will become the 46th and just the second active player behind Alex Ovechkin.
"He's just over 1,000 games now. To score every other game, it is hard," Recchi said. "To be that consistent over the course of 17 years now is just incredible."
