Crosby's shot wins 1st outdoor US NHL game
The Penguins captain somehow saw space between Ryan Miller's
pads as he shifted through driving snow and gave Pittsburgh a 2-1
win over the Buffalo Sabres at the outdoor Winter Classic in front
of an NHL-record 71,217 fans on Tuesday.
In elements way more suited for football than hockey, Crosby won
the NHL's second outdoor game - and first in the United States - in
the most dramatic of fashion at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home to the
NFL's Buffalo Bills.
Crosby skated down the middle, eluded a pokecheck by Miller and
put a shot between the goalie's pads on the final round of the
shootout.
Ty Conklin allowed Ales Kotalik's goal to open the tiebreaker
before stopping Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov.
Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins, pushing his shootout
record to 4-for-4.
Colby Armstrong gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead just 21 seconds after
the opening faceoff, and Brian Campbell tied it 1:25 into the
second.
Despite both teams dressed in retro-style jerseys, this games
was decided by the most modern of methods - the shootout.
Surprisingly, Zambonis didn't clean the ice as they would for a
regular NHL game.
Given the choice of which goal to defend, both Miller and
Conklin picked the West end to avoid the heavy snow that swirled
and poured in toward the right.
Blowing winds and dropping temperatures worked against everyone
inside the vast stadium that easily housed the hockey rink between
the 16-yard lines. By the time the shootout became necessary, no
one seemed to mind the typical January weather in western New York.
With the success of this event, it seems likely the NHL would
seek to host more, perhaps even on an annual basis.
"When you see 70,000 people packed into a stadium to watch
hockey, that's usually a good sign," Crosby said.
The record crowd that topped the one in Edmonton four years
earlier, cheered and took pictures as the conclusion approached.
The camera flashes dotted the entire stadium as each of the six
shooters came in on goal through lake-effect snow.
When Crosby saw the puck cross the goal line, he spun toward the
jubilant Penguins bench and jumped up and down with his hands
raised.
Fans in the lower bowl stood throughout to get a better view of
the puck as they looked out over the height of the rink's boards
and the NBC and CBC television broadcast platforms behind the
penalty boxes.
The biggest cheers came from hits and the few good scoring
chances. Boos broke out when Penguins fans were pictured on the big
video board behind where Crosby scored the winner.
The snow and cold was embraced. One enthusiastic patron held a
poster that read, "Look Mom, no roof."
That was most clear in the final 5 minutes of regulation when
snow fell at its heaviest clip and continued at that pace through
the finish.
Miller and Conklin both had one game of experience playing a
major game in the great outdoors, but neither owned a victory.
Miller earned a 3-3 tie for Michigan State against Michigan in the
2001 "Cold War" game in front of 74,554 fans.
Conklin took the loss in host Edmonton's 4-3 defeat to Montreal
on Nov. 22, 2003, during the NHL's first outdoor game that was
attended by 57,167.
Miller donned a cap, fashioned out of a hockey sock, on top of
his mask. Conklin went with just a standard head covering that
featured snowflakes and a Winter Classic theme.
Sabres forward Thomas Vanek was the last to wear the full head
sleeve that stretched over his mouth in warmups but was pulled down
to his chin by the third period. Penguins defenseman Darryl Sydor
shed his visor that fogged and absorbed pelting snow and sleet.
Another lengthy delay occurred when an ice flaw required
attention in the Buffalo zone.
When the buzzer sounded to break up the third period, it didn't
stop a rush or any kind of scoring chance. The Penguins peeled back
in their zone and essentially took a knee where Hall of Fame
quarterback Jim Kelly did many times in the glory days of the
Bills, letting the final seconds tick off before the clubs changed
sides at the 10-minute mark.
The final mid-period Zamboni run took longer than the others as
the second cleaning machine was blocked in the tunnel by a chunk of
ice. The wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the chilly
players skated and stretched in a seemingly futile attempt to keep
their muscles warm.
Vanek had two prime chances to win it in the final minute for
Buffalo when he tried a wraparound and then forced Conklin to make
a juggling catch.
Momentum changed with the weather that featured snow through the
first 10 minutes, benign cloud cover through the opening
intermission and then a wintery mix during the second. The stadium
lights took effect as the sky darkened and provided a unique
brightness to the rink.
The NHL supplied flames and smoke as the players left the tunnel
en route to the ice and fireworks after the anthems.
As though they were trudging from home to the frozen pond, each
team plodded down mats from the tunnel to the ice - stopping first
to peel off their skate guards. Moms weren't there to call these
grown kids back inside, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman didn't do
it, either.
The only thing that got in their way was a buildup of snow that
held up the movement of pucks and skates and the occasional Zamboni
break to give the rink a clean and shine during a slow-paced first
period.
Armstrong provided the lightning with his quick goal, with help
from the snow. The puck came to a stop in the neutral zone near
center ice, and Crosby carried it into the Sabres zone.
He got off a shot that Miller stopped, before the snow put
another hold on the puck in front. It sat there for Armstrong to
punch in his sixth goal and Pittsburgh's quickest of the season.
The snow slowed and tapered off about midway through the first,
and the ice got a mid-period shine from the Zambonis with 9:54
left.
Three trouble spots cropped up along the wall in front of the
players' benches, two in the zone Buffalo defended in the first
period. Before the Penguins' third power play of the frame, with
7:43 remaining, the ice crew did patch work that caused a delay for
several minutes.