SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Olli Maatta said it felt like Sidney Crosby didn't have a summer. That he just kept going from his Conn Smythe Trophy-winning Stanley Cup run, to the World Cup of Hockey, to now.
That's sort of true, given hockey's elongated season and the length of time it took to complete the World Cup, but Maatta's point is that Crosby hasn't missed a beat.
Crosby's goal-scoring prowess through the five games he played since returning from a concussion _ six total, including a pair of multi-goal games _ has amazed his teammates and frustrated his opponents. It's also been a hot goal-scoring start unlike any even Crosby has experienced.
It marks the best five-game goal output for Crosby at the start of a season in his career, trumping the five he scored to open the 2013-14 campaign.
"He just keeps going from last year," Maatta said. "It's unbelievable to see somebody playing at that level."
Not to mention unprecedented, especially in this era.
Crosby has scored in 25 of his past 26 regular season games (17-20 _ 37) and 13 in a row (10-6 _ 16). His six goals were tied for third in the NHL despite the fact that he missed the first six games of the season.
He's scored four of his six goals on wrist shots (75 percent). That represents a sizable increase over last season, when he scored 16 of 36 that way (44.4 percent), although it's admittedly a small sample size.
"You just try to go there and hopefully nobody gets a stick or is able to box you out, but I think that (Kris Letang) made a great play to have his head up and look for the stick," Crosby said of his second goal Thursday against the Kings. "Just one of those plays. Was able to find some open space."
He's been able to do that a lot, obviously. But as dominant as Crosby has been scoring goals, he's actually had better starts regarding total points scored, if you can believe it.
Crosby's best five-game start in terms of points was 11 (two goals) in 2011-12. He went for five goals and nine points to start 2013-14 and four goals and nine points in his first five games of 2014-15.
Crosby is similarly locked in now, and it becomes must-see TV whenever he touches the puck. Just look at the degree of difficulty on the redirect of the Letang shot-pass. You don't touch that if your game is so-so.
"We marvel at him sometimes with how good he is with what he does each and every night," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's a threat most every shift. He plays at both ends of the rink. We use him in a lot of situations, both offensively and defensively. He's playing inspiring hockey right now."
