Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] captain Sidney Crosby was a late addition to the Team Canada roster for the 2026 World Championships and started a little slowly in the first two preliminary games. Crosby registered only one point in two games, but you could tell that a breakout game was coming. He always shows up for his country, and that big game occurred on Monday in Canada's 5-1 win over Denmark. Crosby registered four assists in the third period (all primary), and they were all things of beauty. His first assist came on Porter Martone's tally, where he was alone on the left side in the low slot and found Martone streaking down the right side for an easy tap-in. It's play we've seen Crosby make 100 times, but it never gets old. After that, Crosby assisted on Denton Mateychuk's goal, which made it 3-0. Celebrini, with whom Crosby has developed some serious chemistry during this tournament, dropped the puck back for him before he found Mateychuk streaking down the middle. Mateychuk was able to score after the puck leaked through Denmark goaltender Nicolaj Henriksen. His third assist came from his office behind the net, doing what he does. He was fending off a defender before finding Ryan O'Reilly to make it a 4-1 game. It's something that Penguins fans have grown accustomed to seeing over the years, and for good reason. He's deadly behind the net. After that, Crosby set up his Penguin teammate Parker Wotherspoon for Canada's fifth goal of the game. He was behind the net for a little again before coming around the left side, finding Wotherspoon streaking down the right side. Wotherspoon blasted the puck on a one-timer, scoring his first goal of the tournament. This is Crosby's fourth time representing Team Canada at the World Championships and is trying to win Gold for a second time. He captained Canada to a Gold Medal at the 2015 World Championships, finishing with four goals and 11 points in nine games. He was also on Team Canada's roster for the 2025 World Championships before the team lost to Denmark 2-1 in the quarterfinals. He had four goals and 12 points in eight games. It's always nice seeing Crosby play on the international stage, especially when he's up to his usual stuff. His vision has been absurd in these three games, and as mentioned above, he and Celebrini have had some great chemistry in preliminary play. Don't discount Martone's chemistry with Crosby, either. Martone has done a fantastic job reading Crosby when the two are on the ice together, and it's been a blast to watch. It also doesn't hurt that Martone's Flyers just played the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so he got to see Crosby's game up close. We all know that Crosby would rather be playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Penguins right now, but this tournament is a good way for him to stay in game shape and prepare for training camp and the next season. He'll be back in action on Thursday when Canada takes on Norway at 10:20 a.m. ET. A win would improve Canada's record to 4-0 in preliminary play. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwquDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
