Penguins forward Sidney Crosby is scheduled to appear in his 1,000th career game on Saturday when his team hosts the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. He will become the fourth native of Nova Scotia to reach that milestone joining defenseman Al MacInnis (1,416) as well as forwards Bobby Smith (1,077) and Glen Murray (1,009), a former Penguin.
Earlier in the week, Crosby (1,276 points) surpassed MacInnis (1,274), a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, for most career points by an NHL player from that province.
MacInnis, who played for the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues, is one of five defensemen to ever record 100 points in a season and was renown for his blistering slap shot, which exceeded 100 MPH despite using heavier wooden sticks that were common during his playing career a generation or two ago.
Being in MacInnis’ company carries significance for Crosby, especially since Nova Scotia has produced only 75 NHL players all-time.
“Definitely proud of that,” Crosby said via video conference. “Growing up, he was definitely a role model for anybody. Everybody has role models and, obviously, when you can link them to where you’re from to teams or leagues you’re from, it’s always a little bit closer. Growing up, you always heard about Al MacInnis shooting pucks every day against his garage. And obviously, he had that huge shot. But when I think back to just how many points he was able to get as a defenseman, it’s pretty incredible.
“I’m definitely proud of that. There’s a lot of pride with being from Nova Scotia. I’m glad to be part of that list.
Tristan Jarry starts again
The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Tristan Jarry against the Islanders.
It will be Jarry’s fourth consecutive start. Over his past three games, he has stopped 98 of 105 shots, equating to a save percentage of .933.
For the season, Jarry has appeared in 10 games and has a 4-5-1 record along with a 3.44 goals against average and an .886 save percentage.
Getting some games
On Friday, the Penguins recalled forwards Jordy Bellerive, Josh Currie and goaltender Emil Larmi from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League to their taxi squad.
Additionally, the team assigned forwards Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau and Maxime Lagace to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Coach Mike Sullivan explained a motive for the transactions was to prevent Angello, Gaudreau and Lagace from developing rink rust.
“One of the reasons why we made the switches we made on is because we’re concerned about guys not playing in real games,” Sullivan said. “In order to keep them as game-ready as possible, they need to play in games. So to practice on the taxi squad for an extended length of time and not participate in any type of game action, in or minds, doesn’t put them in the best possible position to be successful or help the Penguins. That was really the main reason why to move some of the guys around from the taxi squad to (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and vice versa.”
Defending Mike Matheson
During the late stages of Thursday’s 4-1 home win against the Islanders, Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson was assessed a minor penalty for boarding Islanders forward Mathew Barzal. A few shifts later, Islanders enforcer Matt Martin tried to fight Matheson in retaliation.
After the game, the Islanders spoke of dissatisfaction with Matheson for the hit on Barzal as well as an incident from the summer. During the NHL’s postseason tournament in August, Matheson, then a member of the Florida Panthers, injured former Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk with a hit to the head.
“(Matheson has) got a couple of our guys here,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said after Thursday’s game. “(Martin) sent the message to him. It’s going to get testy. We’ve got to play these guys a whole bunch. I think we’ve got another four times coming up here. As it gets ramped up, it will probably get harder and harder.”
Sullivan dismissed any notion Matheson hit Barzal with any ill intentions
“I don’t think Mike is a dirty player,” Sullivan said. “He was trying to defend. Mathew Barzal is a real dynamic player. He’s elusive. He was simply trying to defend as best as he could. It was unfortunate the way it happened. But I don’t think there was intent.”
