BOSTON -- Sidney Crosby has had a few days to think about it -- and has spent at least part of each doing just that -- but still can't figure out what prompted New York Islanders winger Jason Blake to spear him in the final minute of the Penguins' 5-2 victory Tuesday at Mellon Arena.

There was, Crosby said, no run-in between the two that he can recall. No significant exchange of words, let alone any meaningful physical contact, in the seconds or minutes that led up to Blake's jabbing him in the midsection with his stick blade.

"The same thing [about a possible provocation] crossed my mind," Crosby said yesterday. "I don't know of any situation that I'm aware of. Maybe I did something and wasn't aware of it. But I don't remember anything."

NHL officials fined Blake $1,000 for his actions, but did not suspend him. Crosby declined to pass judgment on the merits of that sanction.

"If they feel they need to do it, fine," he said. "If not, it wouldn't have changed my thought about anything, really."

Crosby and Blake will be Eastern Conference teammates for the All-Star Game Wednesday in Dallas. That could make for some interesting conversations in the locker room, although Crosby said he doesn't anticipate any carryover from what happened Tuesday.

"I'm not really worried about it, to be honest with you," he said.

"That happens a lot where you're in situations where things happen on the ice with guys and you see them afterward. It happens. It's an emotional game. If it was the other way around, I'm sure it wouldn't be any different."

Kessel's comeback continues
Boston forward Phil Kessel is a long shot to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, but perhaps he deserves consideration for Comeback Player of the Year.

Kessel, whom the Bruins claimed with the fifth choice in the June entry draft, was barely two months into his first pro season when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

He missed 12 games because of surgery and a brief rehab stint in the American Hockey League before recording his first two-goal game in the NHL in a 6-3 loss Wednesday at Buffalo.

Kessel said after the Bruins' optional game-day skate that he is "getting close" to being 100 percent and doesn't dwell on his bout with cancer.

"I try to forget about it now," he said. "It's a hard situation. Your life changes quick."

Kessel entered Boston's game against the Penguins last night with seven goals and four assists in 32 games. He was averaging 12 minutes, 20 seconds of playing time per game.

He was 19th in the rookie scoring race before facing the Penguins and said he hasn't paid any attention to how other members of his draft class -- Penguins center Jordan Staal is one of them -- have fared.

"It doesn't matter," Kessel said. "Some guys, if they're doing good, that's great. They probably get more ice time than I do."

He added that individual accomplishments are not his primary focus, although the idea of being given an expanded role has obvious appeal.

"That'd be good, but I just want our team to win," he said. "You want to win, you want to make the playoffs. That's the main goal."

Fans of winter
There was no snow, ice or slush on the streets of Boston, but the temperature was hovering around 20 when the Penguins prepared to leave their hotel for the game-day skate.

Which meant that, for one of the few times this season, it actually felt like hockey weather.

"I enjoy it," right winger Mark Recchi said. "I was excited to see the snow [in Pittsburgh] the other day. I'd rather see snow than rain any day."

The unseasonably mild conditions that have prevailed in much of North America the past few months have made sub-freezing temperatures a rarity -- "It's been pretty weird for a hockey season," winger Colby Armstrong said -- and most of the Penguins don't seem to mind being reintroduced to cold weather.

"It's kind of a neat thing when you have to bundle up and put your gloves on to go to the rink," Recchi said. "It's cool."

And normal, in their line of work.

"You think of hockey season, you think of winter and you think of snow," Armstrong said. "There's definitely a different atmosphere when it's snowing. It feels more like hockey season."