Penguins forward Sidney Crosby ruled out for Game 6
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby will not play in Game 6 of his team’s first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.
Coach Mike Sullivan announced Crosby’s status following Friday’s morning skate and indicated Crosby took to the ice before the skate, working out with skating and skills development coach Ty Hennes.
The specific nature of Crosby’s ailment has not been identified publicly but he appeared to suffer a head injury during Game 5 of the series, a 5-3 road loss at Madison Square Garden. During the second period of the contest, Crosby was shaken up after a high hit by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba and did not record a shift past the 13:10 mark of the period.
Crosby has been, by most measures, the Penguins’ most valuable player of the series. In five games, he leads the team with nine points (two goals, seven assists) while averaging 20:32 of ice time per contest.
Notes:
• Injured Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry has been ruled out for Game 6 as well according to Sullivan. Jarry took part in the morning skate and took shots from teammates.
The All-Star goaltenders has not played since suffering a right foot injury on April 14.
“When Tristan is ready to play and everybody feels comfortable that he’s ready to play, then certainly, we’ll put him in the lineup,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had all those conversations behind the scenes with our medical staff and our coaching staff. We’re trying to put players in positions to be successful. We understand how important he is to our team. We’re trying to make decisions that’s best for the team and best for Tristan.”
• Penguins forward Rickard Rakell was deemed as a “game-time decision” by Sullivan. He participated in the morning skate but was not involved in line rushes or the power-play groups.
He has not played since suffering a presumed head injury during Game 1 on May 3.
• Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin was not present for the morning skate and continues to rehabilitate an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him for the past four games. Sullivan indicated his status remains “day to day.”
• Penguins reserve goaltender Louis Domingue is expected to start for the fifth consecutive game. In the five games he has appeared in during this series, Domingue has a 3-2 record, a 3.56 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.
• The Penguins’ lines and pairs during the morning skate were:
59 Jake Guentzel – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 17 Bryan Rust
43 Danton Heinen – 9 Evan Rodrigues – 42 Kasperi Kapanen
16 Jason Zucker – 77 Jeff Carter – 23 Brock McGinn
11 Brian Boyle – 53 Teddy Blueger – 10 Drew O’Connor
5 Mike Matheson – 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson – 6 John Marino
52 Mark Friedman – 2 Chad Ruhwedel
• The top power-play unit involved Guentzel, Letang, Malkin, Rodrigues and Rust. The second power-play unit included Carter, Heinen, Kapanen, Matheson and Zucker.
• Rangers forward Tyler Motte was ruled as being available for Game 6 by coach Gerard Gallant.
A bottom-six winger, Motte has not played since April 7 when he suffered an undisclosed injured on April 7 during a 3-0 home win against the Penguins. During the third period of that contest, Motte was shaken up by a massive hip check from Penguins forward Anthony Angello.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.