Penguins 2 - Hurricanes 3: Crosby Nabs Another Record

'Twas another loss for the suddenly struggling Pens, but Crosby set another record with his goal in the first period. With the goal Crosby becomes the youngest player to ever record 200 points in the NHL.

The goal was Crosby's only point on the night, as he finished with 4 shots and EVEN in 22:41 of ice time. Crosby's been getting lots of ice, but hasn't been piling up the points quickly as of late.

Game recap from Yahoo!:

Back-to-back losses earlier this week left the Carolina Hurricanes out of the playoff picture and in danger of becoming only the third Stanley Cup champion to miss the postseason in the following year.

Instead of working out the troubles in practice, coach Peter Laviolette decided to give his players a day off. The strategy worked perfectly.

"You lose two in a row, it's hard," right wing Scott Walker said. "If you come to the rink the next day, it's still there in the room. It was nice to get some time off."

Walker scored two goals, Cam Ward made 22 saves and Carolina got a much-needed victory by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.

The loss spoiled a record-setting night for Pittsburgh second-year center Sidney Crosby, who became the youngest NHL player to reach 200 career points with a goal in the first period. The 19-year-old already was the youngest player to start the All-Star game since fan balloting began in 1986.

He had an unconventional wraparound, where he sent the puck to the far side of the net.

"I never thought that would happen," Crosby said. "It's a nice accomplishment."

Frantisek Kaberle also scored for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game losing streak to move in front of the Montreal Canadiens for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens played later against Buffalo.

Ryan Malone tied the game at 2 in the second period with his 13th goal of the season, but the Penguins lost for the fourth time in six games. The Penguins still hold fifth place in the East.

The teams combined to go 0-for-13 on the power play in a game with playoff intensity. The Hurricanes improved to 17-13-4 at home. Last season they were 31-8-2.

"I don't think we've played very well at home in front of our fans, but whether it's home or road, the biggest thing are the points right now," Laviolette said.

"Every night, there are games going on, and we have to keep pace."

Crosby leads the league with 98 points, well on his way to his second consecutive season with at least 100. Wayne Gretzky is the only other teenager to reach 200 points, reaching the mark shortly before his 20th birthday.

Crosby won't be 20 until August.

"He's a heck of a player," said Ward, who played against Crosby in the junior leagues. "It was smart on his part to throw it to that side."

Penguins 5 - Devils 4: 15 straight with a point

...and a goal for Crosby!!!

Yes, the 8-game goal scoring slump is over as Crosby buried a laser wrister in the Penguins big 5-4 win over the evil Devils of New Jersey.

The win gives the Penguins 15 straight games with at least a point, breaking an old team record. Sure, the shootout rules and bonus points for OT losses have helped create this artificial record, but 15 straight is still impressive, and gives the Penguins more cushion for a playoff spot.

Crosby was the game's second star with 1 goal, 1 assist, and +2 in a low (for him) 17:28 of ice time. It looks like Crosby is finally BACK.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Jarkko Ruutu scored two goals Friday night to lead the surging Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Rob Scuderi, Jordan Staal and Sidney Crosby also scored for Pittsburgh, which pulled within five points of the Atlantic Division-leading Devils with a game in hand. The Penguins have won five in a row. More impressively, they have picked up at least one point in 15 straight games, winning 13 of them.

Brian Rafalski, Patrik Elias, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac scored for the Devils, who had won 10 of their previous 14.

The Penguins drained the drama from the showdown by jumping out a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals by Ruutu, Scuderi and Staal.

Ruutu got it started when he deflected Josef Melichar's point shot past goalie Martin Brodeur at 3:02.

Scuderi, set up by Melichar, scored at 5:19 from the right point.

Staal got Pittsburgh's third goal of the period with 2:06 remaining, jamming a shot from the slot past Brodeur.

Both teams scored twice in the second period.

Rafalski got his third goal in the last two games at 7:29 to break Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout bid.

Crosby countered for Pittsburgh, ending his eight-game goal-scoring drought with a power-play tally at 10:27 to give the Penguins a 4-1 lead.

Elias scored for the Devils at 12:32 before Ruutu got his second of the game with 3:08 remaining to put Pittsburgh up 5-2.

New Jersey scored twice in the third period to trim the Pittsburgh lead to 5-4. Parise scored on the power play at 2:38 and Zajac fired a shot from just inside the blue line that hit Fleury's glove and popped into the net at 8:50.

Fleury was sharp in the final seconds when the Devils pulled Brodeur for an extra attacker. Fleury turned aside several shots, including an excellent shot by Zajac, as the Devils pressed for the equalizer.

The Devils and Penguins play 3 more times this season. Let's hope those 3 meetings are just as good.