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Sidney Crosby started and ended the Winter Classic, which took place Tuesday in Buffalo, NY. Crosby’s pass to Colby Armstrong to open up the scoring 27 seconds into the game made it seem as if the Penguins were going to have an easy go of it against a Sabres team that they had defeated 2-0 two days before.

The game did not take place in the most idyllic of settings, with the snow that crews dragged back into Ralph Wilson Stadium looking an unnatural shade of brown whenever it showed up on the corners of the screen. Also, the ice did not hold up so well, with crews being called to fix up one patch of ice in the corner on multiple occasions, messing with the natural pace of the game.

This was obvious in the play, also, as play slogged after about five minutes of each period due to the accumulation of snow on the ice. Players simply were not able to get around as quickly as they are used to, which made for a defensive-oriented game. For instance, at the beginning of the third period, the Penguins hadn’t had a shot on goal for 33 minutes and 43 of seconds (the stats report there as being one, but there were not any legitimate shots), instead playing a back and forth game with the Sabres that resulted in very little excitement for the goalies.

Officially, the Sabres had 30 shots on goal and the Penguins had 25, but those numbers are realistically much lower as many of the shots were either blocked or missed the net and very few had a lot behind them. The effect of the weather on the ice and the players is perhaps best demonstrated by the time that goals occurred, with Crosby’s goal coming 21 seconds into the game and Brian Campbell’s goal coming 1 minute and 25 seconds into the second period. The players obviously had more jump at the beginnings of the periods, before they became frozen into their skates.

At the beginning of the game, the excitement was perhaps most obvious on the face of Sidney Crosby, who appeared ready to live up to his nickname of “The Kid” from the time he walked onto the ice to the final whistle. He was obviously thrilled to be on the ice and made a fantastic pass to Armstrong, giving his teammate the puck and then setting up a screen in front of goalie Ryan Miller that allowed Armstrong to score. It was the final time the Penguins would find the back of the net for the next 64 minutes and 39 seconds of action.

The excitement of the players rubbed off on the NHL-record 71,217 fans, most of whom stayed until the final whistle. Many of these fans were dressed in the throwback jerseys that both teams were wearing, both of which looked awesome. The Penguins’ baby blue jerseys, last worn in 1980, provided for a distinct look in the wintry setting, while the Sabres’ jerseys, which are absolutely classic, need to be worn more. The white jerseys with the buffalo in the center should be the Sabres’ normal uniform instead of the slug-like logo that they have now.

Perhaps the coolest fashion statement, however, was Ty Conklin’s goalie mask. The helmet, which was painted baby blue to match the uniforms, had snowflakes painted on it and then had a penguin painted on the side, resembling the baby blue jersey that the Penguins were wearing. Conklin (and his helmet) came through, as the formerly journeyman goalie carried the Penguins to their (and his) fifth consecutive win since Conklin’s return from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. As today’s Tribune-Review pointed out, Conklin’s NHL record of 34-24-4-1 is substantially better, percentage-wise, than Marc-Andre Fleury’s 66-65-2-16 and the two each have a save percentage of .901. Conklin is definitely making a push to remain with the Penguins once Fleury returns from his high ankle sprain, meaning that Ray Shero will have to figure out what to do with Dany Sabourin. Remember, Conklin is a veteran goalie with playoff experience, something that the Penguins could use from their backup. A situation like that at goalie is a good problem to have.

Conklin was solid in the shootout, which could not have been better for the NHL, Gary Bettman, or the fans had it been scripted. After Ales Kotalik beat Conklin with an impeccably placed wrist shot and Ryan Miller, who played a fantastic game and definitely outplayed Conklin, prevented Eric Christiansen from taking the shot he wanted to, the Penguins’ odds did not look so good. Then, however, Conklin managed to stop Tim Connolly before Kris Letang, Shootout Hero, stepped up. Letang did his typical back-and-forth shenanigans with the puck, with Ryan Miller eventually biting on a move and Letang flipping the puck up and into the net, tying the shootout at one and moving Letang to a perfect four-for-four on the shootout. Next, Maxim Afinegenov stepped up for the Sabres, moving in and causing Conklin to sprawl onto his stomach and make a save that had Pittsburgh letting out a gasp until the goaltender revealed that he had the puck. Up came Crosby, prepared to give the fans and Gary Bettman the perfect ending. He picked the puck up and center ice, came flying down the middle, made a few moves, and then proceeded to beat Miller five-hole for the win and Pittsburgh’s 13th win in its last 18 games.

The Penguins are undeniably one of the hottest teams in hockey right now, but today was not about that. Yes, they were focused on the two points, but this game was just as much about the event as it was about the game and the Penguins (and Sidney Crosby) and the Sabres pulled that off better than they possibly could have hoped to. Congratulations to everyone involved in the game today. Today’s game, despite some unavoidable difficulties, was a great show and paid the proper homage to the history of the game.

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