Source: Post-Gazette

Q: Are there any physical problems with Sidney Crosby? I was at the Flyers game (Tuesday) and he looked like he wasn’t into the game at all. He didn’t look like he has going the usual super-fast speed. Any known issues?

Paul, North Hills

MOLINARI: If there were, you’d be reading about them in a story across the top of the first sports page in the Post-Gazette, not only in the Q&A.

There’s no question that Crosby hasn’t been anywhere near the top of his game during most of the first four games of the season — how much money do you think someone could have made by placing a wager that Brooks Orpik would be tied with him in the scoring race nearly two weeks into the season? — and it’s possible that he is nursing some physical problem, since he’s never been one to shy away from high-traffic areas and isn’t reluctant to absorb, or throw, a hit.

Still, it’s inconceivable that if he had a significant injury, the Penguins would risk playing him in mid-October. That would be too short-sighted for words, and this coaching staff and management team never has been given to losing sight of the big picture.

Crosby undoubtedly is frustrated by how the first four games have gone for him — although his wide smile after the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime victory against Philadelphia made it clear he was far more happy with the final score than he was concerned about his failure to record a point against an opponent he has routinely torched during the past three seasons — and also is trying to get comfortable with his linemates.

All of that said, if finding a way to get Crosby’s game in sync and his point production back to its customary levels was the Penguins’ most pressing concern, they would be in awfully good shape.

Gretzky-Lemieux. Bird-Magic. Ali-Frazier. Borg-McEnroe. Nicklaus-Palmer.

And soon, another entrant will be welcomed into the pantheon of sports’ greatest rivalries: Sidney Crosby versus Alexander Ovechkin.

The Penguins captain and Capitals’ goal-scoring machine face off against one another Thursday night in Pittsburgh, the first of four meetings this season between the NHL’s two brightest stars.

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Following Morning Skate

Sidney Crosby interview following mornign skate:

Years from now, Jackson Cooke will look at the photos of himself as a child and marvel at who is standing next to him.

“In the last eight months, his best friend went from being Markus Naslund to Alex Ovechkin to Sidney Crosby,” Penguins forward Matt Cooke, father of 4-year-old Jackson, told NHL.com. “He thinks those are his best friends.”

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They are the two names that surface at the top of every fantasy hockey draft board. They are the two names most synonymous with the NHL right now. They are the two names that transcend between hockey and pop culture, sport and celebrity.

Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t expect to go much longer with minimal output from stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. For now, they’re getting by with goals from players whose scoring for a season sometimes doesn’t match a week of Crosby’s.

Pascal Dupuis scored on a slap shot from along the edge of the left circle with 10.8 seconds left in overtime and the Penguins kept the Philadelphia Flyers winless, giving up a two-goal lead in less than a minute before winning 3-2 Tuesday night.

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Interview after the game:

Therrien on Sidney Crosby:

“He’s a proud athlete. He plays with a lot of pride. He wants to be the best. I’m sure thet he’ll find a way to get there. He’ll find a way because he’s got a lot of pride.”

The Penguins face the Flyers tonight. I’ll have results and photos and hopefully video late tonight or tomorrow.

Sidney Crosby interview after this morning’s practice

Sidney Crosby interview after yesterday’s practice

Talking was on the Penguins’ agenda Monday afternoon following a morning practice.

Right wing Petr Sykora planned to talk with trainers about his sore groin, which has kept him from playing this season.

Coach Michel Therrien said he would talk with his staff about altering his forward lines, though provided no specifics.

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Post-game Video:

Zach Parise’s wrist shot from the left circle sailed past Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove with 37.6 seconds left in overtime and the New Jersey Devils, outshooting Pittsburgh by a more than 3-to-1 margin, rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Penguins on Saturday night.

The Penguins were working a 3-on-2 break in overtime when Travis Zajac came up with the puck and made a long lead pass to Parise, who streaked down the left-wing boards to beat Fleury on the only Devils shot of the game to get past him.

The Devils, winning their second in as many nights, finished with a 49-15 edge in shots but trailed 1-0 until tying it when Patrik Elias’ seemingly harmless, no-look pass from along the boards deflected off Penguins defenseman Hal Gill’s right skate and into the net with 2:29 remaining in the third.

Fleury played an exceptional game, making key save after key save as the Devils held a 20-2 edge in shots in the third period and a 35-6 advantage in the second and third periods.

Despite going long stretches without seeing a shot, Devils goalie Martin Brodeur – required to make only 15 saves – got his 540th career victory, 11 short of Patrick Roy’s NHL career record.

Parise and Elias also had the only Devils goals in a 2-1 win over the Islanders on Friday night.

The Penguins played their first game at home, and in North America, since opening the season by splitting two games with Ottawa in Stockholm last weekend. There were new banners hanging from Mellon Arena’s roof commemorating the division and conference championships they won last season en route to their Stanley Cup finals loss to Detroit, but there was no pre-game banner raising ceremony.

There weren’t many goals, either, with Miroslav Satan – picked up from the Islanders after last season – scoring his first goal for Pittsburgh on a power play midway through the first period.

The Penguins, one of the NHL’s top-scoring teams a season ago, couldn’t find much offense after that, a continuation of their inability to generate many scoring chances during their 3-1 loss to Ottawa in the second game of the Sweden series.

Fleury’s best save might have been with Brooks Orpik off for hooking in the third. Jamie Langenbrunner’s backhand toward an open net hit a post and deflected to Parise with Fleury on his back, but Fleury stretched out his left arm and knocked down Parise’s bad-angle shot.

A few minutes later, Brian Gionta stole a Sidney Crosby pass near the Penguins’ blue line and had a short breakaway, but the goalie stopped Gionta’s slap shot.

Notes: The Devils, beaten out for the Atlantic Division title by the Penguins last season, have won 16 of their past 21 in Pittsburgh. … Crosby hasn’t scored in their first three games. His two grandmothers from Nova Scotia, Linda Crosby and Catherine Forbes, attended their first game in Pittsburgh. … The Penguins have gotten at least one point during 19 of their past 22 home openers.

Sidney Crosby talks to the press following the morning skate