Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby will be scratched because of an undisclosed injury for his team’s game against the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. He has been labeled as “day to day.”
Coach Dan Muse announced Crosby’s status approximately two hours before the opening faceoff.
Crosby was injured during a 4-3 road shootout win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Crosby left that contest in the second period.
Muse declined to say if Crosby’s injury was related to a suspected right leg ailment he suffered while skating for Canada during the Olympics in February. That malady sidelined him for the Penguins’ first 11 games following the NHL’s break for the Olympics.
In 61 games this season, Crosby is the Penguins’ leading scorer with 64 points (28 goals, 36 assists). Typically deployed as the top-line center and on the first power-play unit, Crosby averages 19 minutes, 24 seconds of ice time.
Notes:
• Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin remains sidelined because of an undisclosed injury. Malkin has missed the past two games with the ailment.
• Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner is scheduled to start Saturday’s contest. In 44 games this season, Skinner has a 21-14-9 record, a 2.88 goals-against average, an .889 save percentage and two shutouts.
Skinner has faced the Stars twice this season, each time as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Over that span, he has a 0-1-1 record, a 4.95 GAA and an .800 save percentage.
• The Penguins recalled forward Rutger McGroarty from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Saturday and assigned forwards Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
• The Penguins have largely platooned starts with goaltenders this season. In fact, the last time the Penguins started the same goaltender in consecutive games happened in February, albeit with a wide gap between contests.
Rookie Arturs Silovs started consecutive games Feb. 5 and Feb. 26, claiming wins against the Buffalo Sabres (5-2) and New Jersey Devils (4-1) on those dates. The NHL’s Olympic break came between them.
• Neither team held a morning skate.
• Stars forward Mikko Rantanen was activated from injured reserve and is expected to rejoin his team’s lineup after missing the previous 15 games due to an undisclosed injury he suffered while skating for Finland in the Olympics.
• The Stars are scheduled to start goaltender Jake Oettinger. In 47 games this season, Oettinger has a 29-11-6 record, a 2.62 goals against average, a .901 save percentage and two shutouts.
• Penguins forward Sam Girard has appeared in 699 career games.
• Stars defenseman Thomas Harley has 98 career assists.
• The scheduled referees are Michael Markovic (No. 31) and Kyle Rehman (No. 10), whereas the linespersons are David Brisebois (No. 96) and Jeremy Faucher (No. 97).
