The New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins now both know what it is like to be impacted by the NHL Draft Lottery. That was the case for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 and they landed Sidney Crosby. We can only hope that New Jersey sees half the success that Crosby has had with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
The Penguins are at The Prudential Center on Sunday afternoon for a super matchup. Super Bowl LVI will take place between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals a few hours after but there is some business to deal with first for New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
Crosby is one of the greatest hockey players who ever lived at this point. He has done everything that there is to do in the game of hockey as far as achievements. He is still hungry for more championships and hardware despite the fact he’s already done it all.
There are some milestones that he would like to reach in his career. The next closest one that he has is 500 career goals. He comes into his matchup with the Devils sitting at 499. It just feels like a certainty that he will score this big-time goal in New Jersey.
Sidney Crosby could score his 500th goal against the New Jersey Devils.
The Devils are going to do what they can to contain Crosby on the ice, but we know he is going to get his chances. He is also going to make every teammate around him better which is why he is one of the greatest ever. If he does it he does it but the goal should be to win the hockey game first and for most.
For the first time in a while, the Devils come into a game on a winning streak. They dismantled the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, but they are the worst team in the NHL. They had a real test against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, and they pulled out a big win. A game against the Penguins is a great way to keep the momentum going.
The Penguins aren’t just the Sidney Crosby show either. Evgeni Malkin should be making his return from a COVID-19 absence. He was brilliant following his injury that kept him out all season until just a few weeks ago. Guys like Jake Guentzel, Tristan Jarry, and Kris Letang are also having banner years.
It would be less than ideal to see Crosby reach 500 on Devils ice but it won’t be the worst thing to happen if he does. He has success against everyone regardless of how good or bad your team is. It should be a lot of fun to spend the first half of super Sunday watching this fun matchup.