Sidney Crosby had a choice.
He could have spun away from the check, slipped back along the boards, whirled and twirled and dazzled and deked, as he did to no avail all through the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. Or he could simply have lowered his shoulder and plowed his own path through to the low slot.
He chose the latter, and Chris Kunitz roofed his rebound.
Kris Letang dangled along the right edge of the power play. He could have tried to dispy-doodle through a defender. Or he could have darted hard to the inside and forced the puck to the net.
He chose the latter, and he was credited with the goal when his flick ricocheted off a defenseman.
Ugly?
Heck, no: Penguins 3, Best Hockey Team In The World 0
"They're the champions," Evgeni Malkin was saying late Thursday night of the Kings, formally crowned as such two of the past three years. "It's great to play against them."
No doubt. Better yet to beat them, no doubt. Even with Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Slava Voynov and Jonathan Quick out, Darryl Sutter's roster is still the biggest, baddest around.
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