Crosby's commitment is carrying Penguins into playoff relevance

TORONTO -- Don't get beat... Don't get beat... Don't get beat.

"That's all I was thinking," Maple Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit recalled on Monday of the first time his skates touched the same sheet as Sidney Crosby's.

Crosby's unbelievable age 36 season has dragged the deadline-selling Pittsburgh Penguins into serious playoff contention and is chiseling his kid-like image into hockey's Mount Rushmore.

"You grew up watching him. He's one of the best players to ever f------ play the game," Benoit said in Toronto, ahead of Crosby & Co.'s desperate game against the cruise-control Leafs.

"His hockey IQ is off the charts. He reads the game better than anyone, anywhere. Better than any other player. So, maybe he's slowed down a bit physically, but his mind is just ahead of everyone. He just reads the play on another level, so he can still make those plays. Get there on time. Give himself an extra second or two to make those plays. I don't think age affects him right now."

The eye test and the stat line both back up Benoit's claim.

Crosby is enjoying his first 40-goal showing in seven season and has already bagged his 19th point-per-game campaign. Only one other hockey player has done such a thing: Wayne Gretzky.

This despite taking on difficult defensive matchups and captaining an aging core that, until recently, has underwhelmed as a whole and is still at risk of missing the post-season for a second consecutive season.

"He cares so much about winning. He cares a lot about the Penguins and the success that we have. He plays an inspired game. He's the heartbeat of this team," coach Mike Sullivan said. "And he's certainly doing everything in his power to try to help us get to the playoffs.

While the offensive accomplishments are ridiculous — Crosby is three assists away from 1,000 and 10 goals shy of 600 — Sullivan believes it's No. 87's two-way commitment that "flies under the radar" and has the greatest impact in terms of setting the bar for a defensive effort that has rounded into form and given starter Alex Nedeljkovic better support.

Crosby has piled up 16 points over Pittsburgh's scorching 6-0-2 stretch.

"It's incredible. I mean, he is one of the best players to ever play. So, for him to keep doing what he's been doing his entire career, it's amazing," said Leafs winger William Nylander, who recalls his first time facing the icon.

"It was surreal being out there with him — him and [Evgeni] Malkin. I mean, those were guys that you would watch highlights of when you were at school."

Combine Crosby's dominance, plus deadline addition Michael Bunting's energy jolt and some improved play by Malkin, with Metropolitan Division rivals Philadelphia and Washington losing a combined 13(!) games straight, and the Penguins find themselves in a place unthinkable a month ago: relevant.

Belief is swelling in the visitors' room now, whereas this time in March no Penguin wanted to even consider the playoff picture. They had just shed stud winger Jake Guentzel to a divisional rival and appeared, from the outside, to be waving the white flag.

"It wasn't easy, but that's part of the game — and you got to find a way through that," Crosby said. "Once all the dust settles, I think everyone realizes, OK, this is our group and we gotta play better. We knew that regardless of who's in the lineup, or what the trade situation was, our game had to be better. And we found that here lately."

Sullivan finds himself addressing a proud group, an accomplished core clinging to that hunger to win. And if the third seed in the Metro can't be swiped from Islanders, the second wild-card spot is also up for grabs.

Not many would bet a team led by Crosby to go out and snatch it.

"They have a desire to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they're competing extremely hard to try to get us there. And so, I think that's been the biggest thing, Sullivan said.

"You know, it's been fun from the coaching standpoint, to watch them compete here over the last couple of weeks. We've got ourselves back in this race."

Toronto veteran Mark Giordano, a proud defier of age in his own right, isn't surprised in the slightest that Crosby is still executing at an elite level. He shakes his head at the time 'the Kid' split right through him and stud D-man Jay Bouwmeester on a 1-on-2 rush in Calgary, how Crosby will use his now-you-see spinoffs down low to shake loose for a tip or rebound or net drive.

"He plays the game the right way, plays both ends of the rink. Such an important part of that team for a long time," Giordano said. "So, I mean, you've come to expect things like that."

What Crosby himself may not have expected, though, particularly in those head-hanging moments following the Guentzel trade, is that his team would still be gearing up for games that matter in the second week of April.

"You look at where we were two weeks ago, we probably didn't think we'd be in this position — to be able to be playing meaningful games at this point," Crosby said. "It's fun. We're playing good hockey, and we know that we've got some important tests here.

"We've hung around here. We're battling — and want to find a way to get in."