Sometimes the difference between winning and losing is simply the presence of otherworldly talent.

That seems to have been the case Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins took down the St. Louis Blues with a dominant 4-1 performance, due in no small part to captain Sidney Crosby putting the club on his back once again.

Crosby kicked off the theatrics near the end of the first period with an exceptional highlight-reel tally, scoring a backhand one-timer from one knee.

Midway through the second, he did it again, concluding a dominant shift by faking a slap shot and whipping the puck over to defender Justin Schultz, who wired it home for the 3-0 lead.

Even Crosby's late-game empty-netter was impressive - it's the only way the Nova Scotian sniper knows how to do it - as he earned his second of the game by stealing the puck at his own blue line and flipping it over a falling Blue from center ice.

The star pivot reached the 30-goal plateau with his empty-net tally, still the league-leading mark as the NHL moves into the final third of the season.

There's no question Crosby has stepped it up as of late, taking on a heavier workload to keep the Penguins afloat as they deal with mounting injury concerns.

With key offensive weapons Evgeni Malkin and Conor Sheary still on the shelf, Crosby saw his ice time rise over the 22-minute mark for the fourth straight game - his 22:27 against St. Louis ranking as the second-highest mark among all Penguins skaters.

Crosby saw over 22 minutes of ice just twice in the 41 games preceding this four-game stretch.

Pittsburgh didn't escape its clash with St. Louis unscathed, however. Winger Carl Hagelin only played 3:58 before a hard hit to the head from Alexander Steen ended his night.

Following the win, head coach Mike Sullivan said Hagelin is now considered out with an upper-body injury and will be re-evaluated back in Pittsburgh, according to the club's official Twitter account.

Kris Letang managed to finish the game and score a silky smooth goal in the process, but the veteran rearguard was forced out for a stretch after taking a high hit. He eventually returned, but was also sent to the ice in pain late, blocking a slap shot off the inside of his foot.

Crosby's heroics earned the club a victory this time around, but it's fair to assume Sullivan would prefer to have a few of his other stars back in the lineup to ease the growing burden on his captain.

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While it wasn't an exact replica, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins proved history does indeed repeat itself.

Spearheaded by William Nylander's first career hat trick, Toronto owned a 4-1 lead in the second period. However, presumably drawing from past experience, the Bruins promptly erased the three-goal deficit, setting up one hell of a finish between the Atlantic Division rivals.

Unlike the Maple Leafs' infamous playoff collapse in 2013, though, the result turned out much better for the Blue and White, eventually eking out a crucial two points.

All in all, it was bananas, and a series of key plays ultimately played a big role in determining the outcome. Here are three of them:

Brown gets a break

Five minutes after Ryan Spooner tied things at 4-4, Toronto briefly managed to escape the confines of the defensive zone, and Connor Brown was the beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce on the other side of the rink.

As Zach Hyman searched the slot for a recipient, his centering pass deflected off the heel of Zdeno Chara's stick and right onto the tape of Brown's, who authoritatively put it in the open net.

5-4.

Komarov's penalty

It wasn't long after Brown's goal that Leo Komarov tempted fate, awarding the Bruins a chance after interfering David Pastrnak.

As the hockey god's would have it, none other than Patrice Bergeron would capitalize on the ensuing powerplay.

5-5.

Marner's screen

Based on what transpired throughout a topsy-turvy third period, hardly anyone anticipated overtime despite the tied score, and it was James van Riemsdyk that iced it with 1:36 to go.

While JVR's second tally of the game was certainly a well-placed shot, it wouldn't have been possible without a perfect screen from linemate Mitch Marner.

6-5, final.

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Morgan Rielly has appeared in two games since suffering an unidentified lower-body injury a few weeks back, but it's obvious that the Toronto Maple Leafs' No. 1 defenseman remains affected by the ailment.

Now we understand why.

Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock revealed after the club's thrilling 6-5 win over Boston on Saturday that Rielly is playing through a high ankle sprain, according to The Athletic's David Alter.

It's an injury that typically requires a more lengthy recovery process.

Babcock added that Rielly tweaked the injury in the win, and that it will continue to happen until the injury can fully heal.

Rielly was still able to log in excess of 22 minutes Saturday, almost four minutes more than in his return Thursday versus the St. Louis Blues. Still, Rielly's injury, and how its impacted his performance, has magnified Toronto's shortage of plus defenders.

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Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.

Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Sunday's three-game slate (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and apply to 5v5 situations):

Dynamic Duos

• C Connor McDavid (78K) & LW Patrick Maroon (41K), Oilers (at Canadiens): Carey Price hasn't started on back-to-back days once this season, so expect Al Montoya (.909 SV%, 2.72 GAA) to man the crease on Sunday. This gives McDavid, the NHL's leading point-getter, even more upside. Maroon has developed great chemistry with the superstar.

• LW Chris Kreider (61K) & RW Mats Zuccarello (58K), Rangers (vs. Flames): Calgary's goaltending situation has been turbulent for most of the season. The Rangers sit fourth in SCF60 (scoring chances for per 60 minutes). Kreider and Zuccarello both play on the first line and the top power-play unit. Calgary has been shorthanded more than any NHL team.

Bargain Plays

• LW Jimmy Vesey (29K), Rangers (vs. Flames): Vesey doesn't play big minutes, but he plays on the second line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. He is second on the team with 3.89 iSCF60 (individual scoring chances for per 60 minutes).

• D T.J. Brodie (25K), Flames (at Rangers): Brodie recorded back-to-back 40-point seasons from 2014-16. His production has tailed off this season, but he is coming off a four-point outing on Friday against New Jersey. He doesn't take many shots, so reserve him for tournament use.

Top Fades

• G Al Montoya (106K), Canadiens (vs. Oilers): It's quite puzzling why a middling backup goaltender like Montoya is priced as the most expensive goaltender on the slate, especially on a back-to-back against the rested Oilers. Better options between the pipes can be found elsewhere, even on a three-game slate.

• C Anze Kopitar (69K), Kings (at Capitals): The Capitals are the hottest team in the NHL right now. If you're going to invest in a Kings center, it should be the more productive and less expensive Jeff Carter.

Contrarian Options

• G Peter Budaj (75K), Kings (at Capitals): Budaj not only looks like Jesus, but has been playing like the second-coming of Christ lately. He has allowed just three goals in his last five games, recording three shutouts. He'll be in tough to continue this strong play on the second game of a back-to-back against the red-hot Capitals, but it's tough to ignore the NHL's hottest goalie at 75K.

• C Leon Draisaitl (53K), Oilers (at Canadiens): Squad Up users will likely be all over McDavid, therefore leaving his linemate Draisaitl with little ownership. He has had a fantastic season, yet still comes with a very economical salary.

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New Jersey Devils winger Taylor Hall wasted no time making his presence known Saturday, scoring within the first four minutes of a tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets and refusing to let up over the rest of the eventual 5-1 victory.

Related - Watch: Devils capitalize after Werenski loses stick

Hall posted one of his finest stat lines of 2016-17 in the rout, finishing with eight shots and two goals - he added an empty-netter in garbage time - to lead skaters on both sides.

The eight chances tied the most Hall has launched on net in any game this season - he posted eight shots just once before in 2016-17, in early November.

And he managed that noteworthy effort in just 17:10 minutes of ice-time, which ranks as the seventh-lowest total among his 43 games this season. He's topped 20 minutes on 19 occasions this year.

The 25-year-old sniper posted his third multi-goal effort in the win over the Jackets as well, coming up big for his new club against an Eastern Conference titan, an apt time to do so given the Devils' desperate push for a playoff spot.

With the two points in the bag, New Jersey now sits with 54, five back of Philadelphia for the East's second wild-card slot.

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Any deal sending Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog out of Denver likely requires a top-end defensive prospect coming back to Colorado.

Unfortunately for Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, he seemingly let one slip through his fingers a year ago.

The Avalanche are the NHL's cellar-dweller this season, with just 30 points in 49 games after winning just three of their last 22. But that wasn't the case a year ago. In the thick of the playoff race, the Avalanche were buyers at the deadline, bringing in winger Mikkel Boedker from the Arizona Coyotes.

The early results were promising. Boedker finished his short tenure in the Mile High City with 12 points in 18 games, outpacing all Avalanche skaters. But Colorado's dreams of a postseason dance were short-lived, as the Avalanche finished five points shy of a playoff berth.

On Arizona's side of the deal, veteran winger Alex Tanguay was the most notable quantity headed to the desert, while the Avalanche also included young blue-liner Kyle Wood as part of the deal.

Wood was drafted 84th overall in 2014, but less than two years later, he was off to Arizona, with Sakic noting the club was questionable to sign Wood. It was a curious statement, given Wood tallied 39 points in 49 games in his final year in junior.

That didn't stop the Coyotes from putting pen to paper, inking the 6-foot-5 blue-liner less than a month later. Now, the club is already seeing the fruits of a blossoming prospect.

Playing with the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Wood is off to a torrid start in his first pro season. The 20-year-old sits first among rookie defensemen with 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games, and just five points shy of first among all AHL blue-liners. In his most recent outing, Wood chipped in a pair of goals in a victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Friday.

Representing the Roadrunners in January's AHL All-Star festivities, Wood won the hardest shot component of the skills competition with a blistering 99.3-mph shot. By comparison, only two players topped that rate at the NHL skills showcase in Los Angeles last month. It's no wonder that earlier this season Roadrunners coach Mark Lamb likened Wood's shot to Shea Weber's booming blast.

That's the sort of defenseman sorely missing in Colorado right now.

With just Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, and an aging Francois Beauchemin, the Avalanche are at least one blue-liner short of a well-rounded top four. Had Colorado kept Wood in the fold, the team's defensive depth and its road ahead would surely look a lot brighter.

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That's one way to redeem yourself after a trip to the penalty box.

Pittsburgh Penguins defender Kris Letang found his quick redemption by way of a well-timed breakaway tally to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 in its tilt against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Letang's silky go-ahead goal also served as the first NHL point for Pittsburgh's Carter Rowney, who set up the tally.

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There may be fewer specialists, but there sure are heavyweights.

Adam McQuaid and Matt Martin - two players that meet the requirements for the division - exchanged punches at center ice in the second period Saturday in Boston after the Bruins defender wiped out Auston Matthews.

McQuaid landed the decisive right hand before the intervention, sending the bloodied Martin in for repair, and presumably to enter concussion protocol.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of good rookies. William Nylander is one of them.

After notching the equalizer in the first period, the Maple Leafs' freshman recorded two more, completing his first NHL hat trick.

Here's goal No. 2:

And No. 3:

Joining Nylander on the score sheet was James van Riemsdyk, as three Maple Leafs' goals in roughly two minutes chased Bruins' starter Tuukka Rask midway through the second period.

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Sidney Crosby continues to do Sidney Crosby things.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain tallied his league-leading 29th goal of the year in impressive fashion Saturday, finishing off a pass from Chris Kunitz in style.

Top shelf, backhand, one-timer, from one knee. Sure, why not.

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