After spending most of the weekend holed up in his hotel room with an illness, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby emerged at the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday night and claimed MVP honors with a four-goal, four-assist performance.
Neither of those two developments surprised goalie Matt Murray, who spent part of the team’s weeklong midseason break with Crosby in Wyoming.
He wasn’t surprised Crosby got sick.
“The cold weather in Jackson Hole actually got me too a little bit,” Murray said, sniffling.
He was even less surprised that he was the best player on the ice in San Jose.
“I don’t think any of us are anymore,” Murray said. “He’s so good.”
The Pittsburgh market delivered the second-best ratings in the country for the game on NBC, finishing behind Buffalo and ahead of St. Louis, Minneapolis and Las Vegas.
Murray was one of those watching on television. In addition to being impressed by Crosby’s exploits, he said he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the goalies.
“That’s what they’re looking for,” Murray said. “It’s three-on-three. It’s breakaways, two-on-ohs. I think I saw a three-on-oh when I was watching. Obviously it’s a lot looser than a regular overtime too, so it’s even more open.”
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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.
