Sully Says: Crosby Plays His Best When The Stakes Are Highest

Led by an inspired performance from their captain, the Penguins got another must-win on Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Sidney Crosby scored twice and added an assist to record 1,500 points for his career in Pittsburgh's 5-1 win. He is the sixth-fastest player to reach that milestone, getting it in his 1,188th career game, and just the 15th ever.

"Obviously, the most important thing is the next game in our situation here. The urgency and desperation… that's what I'm thinking about more than the numbers," he said. "But it's a nice number, and a lot of guys are a big part of that, a couple of them for a long time. But I think that's just a product of some guys that I've played with over the years. It's just a nice number."
One of those guys is Evgeni Malkin, who joked to Crosby on the bench that he had touched the puck, and should have gotten the goal. He did end up getting one of his own in the third period to cap off the scoring, with Danton Heinen and Alex Nylander - who slotted into the lineup for Drew O'Connor - also finding the back of the net.
Tristan Jarry made 19 saves in Pittsburgh's 80th game of the season. They have just two remaining - Tuesday at home against Chicago, and Thursday on the road in Columbus. For the moment, the Penguins are in the top Wild Card spot with 90 points. The Panthers and the Islanders - who each have 89 points with 79 games played - both play tonight, with Florida facing Washington and New York facing Philadelphia.
Here's what Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan had to say after the victory.
Sid was very humble about 1,500. So can you try and put into words what a milestone like that means - there's only 14 other players that have done it, and he's the sixth-fastest.
Well, you just put it into perspective for us (laughs). He's the sixth-fastest player to do it in the history of the game. There's only 15 players that are in that company. I just think speaks to the milestone, and the impact that he's had on the game. He's not only one of the greatest players of his generation, he's one of the greatest players of all time, and he continues to do it. We all grow accustomed to all these milestones that he seems to keep achieving. Every additional one that he achieves, it seems like it's that much more impressive, and it puts him in more elite company. I don't know how else to say it. I mean, you guys know what I think of him as a player and as a person. He's just an incredible athlete, and he just represents our game the right way. He just personifies everything that's right about hockey, that's good about our sport. The way he carries himself, his humility - but I think his performance speaks for itself, his legacy speaks for itself, and his appetite to win never seems to diminish. He's as hungry as he's ever been to win a Stanley Cup.
The way he keeps rising to the occasion when you guys need him, in these big moments in these games - is that something you ever get used to?
I don't know if we get used to it. I certainly don't take it for granted. I'll tell you that. He seems to have just an incredible ability to play his very best when the stakes are the highest. I think that's why the Penguins have been able to accomplish what they've been able to accomplish here over the last X amount of years that Sid's been playing, and Geno and Tanger - you could speak to those guys as well. They've just built an incredible legacy, and they have an appetite for more. That, for me, is the biggest thing that I admire about them, is that they're not resting on their laurels. They're hungry for more. I think they show it through their performance. They just play their best when the stakes are high.
Beyond Sid, what did you like about the performance from the team today?
I just thought we built off of our last game against Minnesota. I thought we defended hard. I thought we defended our scoring area extremely hard. We had numbers back; we didn't give them too many odd-man rushes. We were just more responsible with our game. On the same side of the coin, we weren't just letting them come at us. I think that's an important distinction to draw. This is a conversation we have with our team, is we don't want to be a team that just sits back to have numbers back for the sake of having numbers back, and let teams come at us. We, as a coaching staff, don't think that's a game plan that sets us up for success. We have to play a smart game, not necessarily a safe game. I think that's the distinction. So, I thought we played a smart game. We were on our toes when we had the ability to establish a forecheck. We were trying to get up in fives and we were trying to play on top of them. When we didn't, I thought our guys made good decisions. We didn't make any ill-advised pinches. We were smart about our positioning on the ice. I thought our forwards were working hard to get above their attack, to get above people, to get up above the puck to get depth to our attack. I think when we work to get depth to our attack in all three zones, I think that's a good indicator that we're playing the game the way we want to play it.
Tristan has put together back-to-back pretty solid performances here at a pretty important time. Just how encouraged are you and the coaching staff with this performance?
Real encouraged. I think he's a top-tier goalie in this league. I've said this all year long. Our challenge has been to get him some repetitions and get him healthy. I think he's made a lot of strides in both categories. He looks really strong. When Tristan is at his best, he tends to track the puck, and makes some difficult saves look routine. I think that's the brilliance of his game. But tonight, he made some big saves for us. They don't look like highlight-reel saves, but they're important saves for us, and I think that's when he's at his best. So we're really encouraged by where he's at.
Alex Nylander, he got the goal, but aside from that, did you like what you saw from him today?
Yeah, we did. We liked a lot of his game. He was strong on pucks. He made some real good decisions. He's a stiff player. He's strong. He can be heavy on pucks. We all know that he has the ability to create offense. He's gifted offensively. When he's moving his feet, when he's defending hard, when he's strong on pucks, wins battles on the boards, things of that nature - he's a really effective player. He has NHL talent. And so, we were really encouraged by his game today. Not just the fact that he scored, his whole overall game. He's very capable.