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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 2598425" data-attributes="member: 2012">Crosby earns assist in Penguins debutCanadian Press9/21/2005 11:28:54 PMWILKES-BARRE, Pa. (CP-AP) - Sidney Crosby wasted little time showing why he's one of the NHL's hottest commodities.Crosby, Pittsburgh's much-celebrated top draft pick, had an assist in his NHL exhibition debut, but it wasn't enough for the Penguins in a 5-4 overtime loss Wednesday night to the Boston Bruins.After Brad Isbister scored to give Boston a 1-0 lead, Crosby recorded his first point at 8:28 of the first period. Goalie Tim Thomas kept Crosby's backhander out of the net, but Mark Recchi followed the shot and poked in the rebound to tie the game.Crosby had another scoring chance about five minutes later, but his wrist shot from the slot off a rebound hit the crossbar.The 18-year-old phenom said he was satisfied with his debut, but knows there's plenty of room for improvement.''I thought things went pretty well,'' said Crosby, who finished with 20 shifts. ''I think I can play here and help the team. I just want to continue to improve.''Crosby indicated he may be looking to shoot first more in the NHL than he did with the Rimouski Oceanic, who he led to a berth in the 2005 Memorial Cup.''It's nice to set up guys and give them empty nets and stuff, but these D are good,'' said Crosby. ''I have to make sure that I use shooting as an option more.''Crosby spent most of his time on a line with Recchi and Ryan Malone, though coach Ed Olczyk did occasionally match the former junior star with his idol, Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux.''It's pretty simple when you're playing with someone like that,'' said Crosby. ''You just give him the puck and get open.  I think any guy who plays with him is excited to be out there with him.''Olczyk liked what he saw out of the youngster in his first taste of NHL action.''He had some great chances,'' said Olczyk, who sat most of his regulars in Pittsburgh's first pre-season game Monday night. ''I thought him and (Recchi) had some good chemistry in his first game. I'm happy with the way he played.''Lemieux also came away impressed.''I thought he skated very well,'' said Lemieux, who finished with two assists. ''He showed a lot of strength at times protecting the puck. That's a good start for him, he was one of the best players out there.''Zdenek Blatny scored the game-winner, blasting a power-play shot between the pads of Jocelyn Thibault 4:02 into the extra session.Boston's Patrice Bergeron, a teammate of Crosby on Canada's gold-medal winning squad in the 2005 world junior championships, made more of an impact on the scoreboard with two goals and two assists.Boston took a 2-1 lead when Bergeron scored short-handed at 9:17. Pittsburgh tied it 2-2 when Sergei Gonchar scored on a power-play slap shot 21 seconds later.The Bruins made it 3-2 lead when Brad Boyes scored on a bad-angle one-timer on the power play with 2:37 left in the period.Bergeron's second goal, a centring pass that took a deflection and slipped between Thibault's pads, put Boston up 4-2 late in the second period. Ryan VandenBussche also scored for the Penguins.Ziggy Palffy tied the game 4-4 in the third period for the Penguins, scoring on his second whack at a bouncing puck after Lemieux sent a centring pass into the crease.</blockquote>

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