It seemed, at first blush, like the perfect partnership.
A reliable goal-scorer matched with a guy who might be the finest set-up man in the National Hockey League.
Trouble is, something was missing when Miroslav Satan and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins opened this season as linemates.
Goals.
Satan and Crosby, with Pascal Dupuis on the left side, simply didn't manufacture enough offense during a five-game trial and, as he is wont to do with sputtering line combinations, coach Michel Therrien didn't hesitate to separate them.
Satan and Crosby remained apart for several weeks, but were reunited for the Penguins' 6-3 victory in St. Louis Saturday and figure to be together again (this time, with Max Talbot on left wing) when Edmonton visits Mellon Arena at 7:08 p.m. today.
"We knew what [Satan] was capable of," said assistant coach Mike Yeo, who oversees the forwards. "And we wanted to give him another shot."
Satan leads the Penguins with six goals in 12 games and has scored five of those in the past eight.
"He's been playing well," Crosby said.
Satan suggested that his productivity of late simply reflects the way most goal-scorers experience hot and cold stretches and that he just happens to be enjoying a fairly warm one at the moment.
"It's different all the time," he said. "Sometimes, you hit those streaks where you're able to score, sometimes, you hit streaks where you can't. Every player has that."
It's also worth noting that Satan has gotten four of his goals on the power play, tying him for fifth place in the league before last night.
Man-advantage goals count as much as any other, of course, but considering that the Penguins have scored just 15 times while playing five-on-five -- the third-lowest total in the NHL before last night -- having Satan (and a few of his teammates) do more at full strength would have obvious benefits.
That doesn't seem like an unreasonable request, particularly for Satan. For while he managed just 16 goals while playing on Long Island last season, he put up between 22 and 40 in each of the previous 10 seasons.
Although it isn't entirely clear why he and Crosby didn't jell the first time they were together, there's no shortage of theories.
"We had some chances, and the puck didn't go in," Crosby said. "It's one of those things where you do all the same things and sometimes you get rewarded, sometimes you don't."
Satan, meanwhile, suggested that, "maybe we tried too hard, both of us," while Yeo volunteered that their lack of familiarity might have been enough to sabotage that first stint together.
"It took a little time for the chemistry to develop," Yeo said. "The game is played at such a high speed out there that if you're just 2 feet out of position and not reading off each other the right way, maybe there's a loose puck you're not going to get to, or maybe there's a hole you're not going to get to."
That, the Penguins hope, won't be an issue anymore.
Satan pointed out that he is more settled into his new surroundings than he was at the start of the season -- "Definitely, I'm feeling more comfortable now than the first couple of weeks. I've learned a lot about my team during the last month or two" -- and that he and Crosby have a better feel for each other's preferences and tendencies.
"I think we know more about each other now," Satan said. "Hopefully, it's going to click, and we're going to have some results, be able to help the team."
Certainly, Satan added, Crosby is the kind of center who tends to bring out the best in his game.
"I've always like to play with skilled guys, guys who can control the puck, and he's one of those guys," Satan said. "He has all the skill in the world. You always enjoy playing with those kinds of players. He's one of a kind. It's fun for me to be out there with him."
Crosby, understandably, hopes that he and Satan will develop a synergy, and feels they can generate goals the way management envisioned when Satan was signed as a free agent during the offseason.
"We both have to play the right way," Crosby said. "But, certainly, if we're both doing the right things, we're going to create chances and, hopefully, put the puck in the net."
First Published: November 6, 2008, 10:00 a.m.