PITTSBURGH _ Take a quick glance at the box score from the Penguins' 4-0 win against Florida Sunday afternoon, and it might look like the official scorer's copy-and-paste feature had malfunctioned:
Crosby, from Guentzel and Sheary.
Crosby, from Guentzel and Sheary.
Crosby, from Guentzel and Sheary.
The Penguins celebrate a hat trick completed by Sidney Crosby at PPG Paints Arena against the Florida Panthers.
Really, though, it was just the Penguins' new ruthlessly efficient top line. The trio hooked up for three goals Sunday _ all finished off by Crosby _ to continue their red-hot run of recent play.
Since formally joining together against Edmonton last week, the three have combined for 26 points in the last six games.
"It's been good," Crosby said. "I think the main thing is that we're consistently getting chances. With that, it doesn't matter who gets them, but they'll go in."
Against the Panthers on Sunday, Crosby played that role, scoring his 38th, 39th and 40th goals of the season in the second and third periods to send the Penguins cruising to an easy win.
Crosby now has 40 goals for the second time in his career, and is in sole possession of the NHL lead, three goals clear of Boston's Brad Marchand in second. His natural hat trick also moved him into a tie with Edmonton's Connor McDavid for the overall NHL points lead with 11 games remaining.
Crosby had a seven-game run from Feb. 28 to March 11 without a goal, but has ended that with six in his last four games. Sunday, he scored off a wrist shot, a backhander and a one-timer.
"He's leading the league in goals, and that's not by accident," Sheary said. "He's shooting the puck from everywhere and he's beating the goalies a lot. Getting the puck in his hands is never a bad thing."
They clearly did that effectively against the Panthers. Crosby's three goals came after Patric Hornqvist put the Penguins up 1-0 in the first period with a swinging goal on a puck in midair. From that point, the Penguins use some stingy defense, Marc-Andre Fleury's 21-save shutout and, of course, Crosby's scoring to close out the win.
Sullivan called Crosby "the glue that holds that line together." While he did the scoring Sunday, he has also been just as comfortable setting up Sheary and Guentzel for the finish, with four assists in the six games they have played together.
In fact, Sullivan said, one of the greatest strengths of the line is that all three can score, pass and defend when called upon.
"I don't think one's a scorer or one's a passer," Sullivan said. "I think they're hockey players, and they just play hockey. When the shots are there to be taken, they shoot. When it isn't and somebody's open, I think they have the vision and the awareness, they see it."
For Sheary, playing alongside Crosby is nothing new. When Guentzel joined the line last week in Western Canada, Sheary said he didn't have too many specific instructions for how to play alongside a superstar like Crosby, mostly just sticking to the common hockey refrain of "play your game."
Still, Guentzel, 22, grew up watching Crosby play on television, so lining up next to him was a new experience.
"It's crazy," Guentzel said. "Sometimes you get caught staring, but you've got to just play your own game out there."
Guentzel wasn't staring too much Sunday, and Crosby noted that he thought Guentzel was getting more and more comfortable with his role on Crosby's left wing.
"I think (we're) just trying to communicate and talk out plays," Crosby said. "I think their games speak for themselves. As long as we continue to get better, then we'll continue to get chances."
They certainly got their chances Sunday, and Crosby converted. Again. And Again. And Again.
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