Playing on Crosbys line a new perk for Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist

Chemistry tends to materialize at an accelerated pace when Sidney Crosby is your center.

Patric Hornqvist is relishing that phenomenon while busting out of the gate this season. Two games into his Penguins career, he has two goals, two assists and a team-high 13 shots on goal as part of the teams top line with Crosby and Chris Kunitz.

He feels like he won the lottery.

Oh yeah, for sure. Playing with Sid makes it easier out there, said Hornqvist, a winger acquired in the trade with Nashville for James Neal in the summer. Hes one of the best players in the world. He can make things happen from nothing. Hes so strong on the puck, and you just have to skate a lot and try to get open when you play with him.

To put it politely, Hornqvist never had skated on a line with a center near the caliber of Crosby in the NHL season. That excludes his short stint with Henrik Zetterberg for Team Sweden last winter at the Olympics.

Still, he has been a 20-goal scorer in his four seasons in the NHL, with a reputation as a menacing net-front presence with a knack for scoring in tight.

I think we all know hes a goal-scorer, so to speak, a net-front kind of guy, Kunitz said. Hes in around the net, likes to stand for those screens, find a lot of tips. Hes got a really good stick there. Anywhere in that 15-foot radius to the net, hes really deadly and lethal with tips and shooting.

Hornqvist, originally projected as a linemate for Evgeni Malkin, was slotted onto the Crosby-Kunitz line for the final preseason game on a hunch it would work.

The results so far speak for themselves.

You look at a group of players and youre hoping theyll develop some chemistry, but you never really know, said coach Mike Johnston. Thats why earlier in the year I talked about having two people together on a line, because thats usually [when] you get some chemistry with two and you can interchange the third person. Now weve got some really good chemistry amongst the three of them.

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Playing on Crosbys line a new perk for Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist