The month of October was a tough one for Sid as he continued to play behind Sundin, Nieuwendyk, and Antropov on the depth chart. In 12 games, he averaged a brief 10:47 of ice time and recorded two goals and two assists.
However, things seem on track to change as Antropov went down with a third-degree MCL Sprain in the Leafs’ Halloween night loss to the Panthers. With Antropov out 1-2 months, Sid should be getting more minutes.
(Can you imagine the national uproar if the Leafs were giving Sidney Crosby fourth line minutes behind Nik Antropov in 2005?)
In his first game after the Antropov injury, Crosby scored a goal and assisted on another as the Leafs beat Carolina in Raleigh. One month after Antropov went down, Sid’s ATOI stood at 13:48 and he had a 7-9-16 stat line after 26 games.
On December 3, 2005, the 15-7-3 San Jose Sharks and Alex Ovechkin came to Toronto. As when Malkin came to town, Sid scored.
On Boxing Day, Mats Sundin sprained his ankle against the Devils. Sid took over first line duties, scored, and added three assists in a Leafs win. He followed that up by tallying four assists on the 29th against the Sabres.
41 games into his rookie season, Crosby has 13 goals and 17 assists in 14:58 of ice time.
