Crosby/Goal Scoring

[Steve Dave]

Can anyone give some insight on Crosby's goal scoring decline? He scored 83 goals in 122 games prior to his concussion but has just 15 goals in his last 40 games played. Is he passing up shooting opportunities? Does he lack of confidence?

[DontToewsMeBro]

A few weeks ago he was tied with Karlsson for the league lead in shots. His shooting percentage is far below his average (if I remember correctly), as is Malkin's, which tells me they should both be putting up a few more goals soon.

[pcm]

Crosby has been playing a very "pass-first" game recently...It's kind of frustrating to watch sometimes. He comes down on the rush with his head up looking for someone to pass too. I wish every once and a while, he'd do that and then turn and rip a shot on net.

Maybe he's still finding his game after all the time off, which has definitely always been predicated on playmaking. Hopefully the rocket richard winner will return.

[pugilist13]

A couple of seasons ago Sid made a concerted effort to shoot the puck more. He even said so to the media. He needs to get back to that frame of mind.

[PhantomJB93]

I get that he's probably the best passer in the world, and most of the time he gets that perfect pass off and sets somebody up for a goal anyway so it's not much of a problem, but I've noticed a lot of times recently where he was in perfect position to take it himself and shoot and instead immediately looked for Kunitz or Duper. I know he has a ton of shots too but I think he's just passing a lot more than he was prior to the injury.

[offsides]

A couple of seasons ago Sid made a concerted effort to shoot the puck more. He even said so to the media. He needs to get back to that frame of mind.

Agree, I'd rather have him shooting then almost anyone else on the team (except for Geno and Neal).

[MRandall25]

[Steve Dave]

Nevermind!

[iWonTheCup87]

lol he did have a concussion and missed 3/4's of a season remember?????

hahah he just scored

[Steve Dave]

Perhaps Crosby reads these boards?

[DocEmrick]

Perhaps Crosby reads these boards?

He does moar than read them, he's an active poster with 20,000+

[Hawkeynut]

Perhaps the addition of Neal no longer necessitates the need for Crosby to be the trigger man anymore.

[Shakes]

Bump for this article for those who hadn't seen it.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/9036140/pittsburgh-penguins-sidney-crosby-back-best-player-world

Good stuff from LeBrun. Not really focused on goal scoring, but I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

[Kovy27]

I wouldn't really complain about this due to the fact that Chris Kunitz has 14 goals and Super Duper has 9. As long as the line is producing, Sid can do whatever he wants.

[Inkio]

Bump for this article for those who hadn't seen it.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/9036140/pittsburgh-penguins-sidney-crosby-back-best-player-world

Good stuff from LeBrun. Not really focused on goal scoring, but I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Great read. Thanks for the link.

[no name]

Yeah he is passing first and i am sure it has something to do out of fear of getting hit. But hey if that is what it takes for the guy to build up his confidence until he gets back to the origional Sid that is fine with me. Also with a 17-8 record and he is leading the NHL in scoring.... Wait why are we talking about this??

[Pitts]

Sid leads the league in scoring. I'm okay with that.

[Shakes]

Bump for this article for those who hadn't seen it.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/9036140/pittsburgh-penguins-sidney-crosby-back-best-player-world

Good stuff from LeBrun. Not really focused on goal scoring, but I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Great read. Thanks for the link.

Yeah, the main reason I bumped this is because Sid's recent play is the best thing going right now, and I'm so glad in culimated with THAT performance on HNIC. I love a few of the comments stating how bogus his 1st star selection was, considering he had only 1 goal.

Anyone who watched the game, including the Toront media, saw that Sid was a level above everyone else. And you could hear that "scared-to-death" murmur in the crowd every time the puck came near him. He was a threat on every single shift.