After almost a year off to recoup from a concussion, Sidney Crosby was greeted by an energetic packed house at Consol Energy Center when he skated onto the ice during warm-ups to the song, “Back in the Saddle Again.”

How did he respond to the lengthy layoff?

In Crosby fashion, finishing the game with two goals and two assists to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders.

In all, Crosby’s break extended over the months to total 328 days making fans and media expecting the All-Star to need some time to settle back in but Crosby had other ideas.

On his first tally, he weaved through the Islanders’ defense and shot a backhand past rookie goaltender Anders Nilsson bringing the fans to their feet and if you’re even a bad lip reader, you were able to interpret him roar, “F—k yeah!”

Crosby added two assists on goals by Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik and used a backhander to notch his second goal.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in net, stopping all 29 shots he faced to collect his 21st career shutout and move to within just one of franchise leader Tom Barrasso.

BTW, 250 press credentials were handed out and that’s about four times the usual number for a regular season game in Pitt.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

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