PITTSBURGH (TNS) – The UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex was eerily quiet Monday a few minutes after 11 a.m., its ice surface empty except for an emptied bag of pucks, when Penguins captain Sidney Crosby gave his familiar head nod hello to a few team staffers and hit the ice for practice.
No longer was Crosby wearing a yellow, non-contact jersey. Just a black one. And an ear-to-ear smile, as he warmed up with a few laps while slapping a puck in the air with his stick.
The concussion issues that Crosby has been battling to put behind him are apparently in the rearview mirror. Enough, anyway, to go all-out at practice. His status remains “day-to-day,” but even coach Mike Sullivan refused to rule him out for today’s game.
“Going out there today, being able to go through a regular practice, it means you’re headed in the right direction,” Crosby said. “It’s a little easier to stay motivated and stay upbeat about it.”
Crosby’s return could soon ease the strain on everyone, too.
Without Crosby in the lineup – he was concussed Oct. 7 and hasn’t played in a game since – the Penguins are averaging 2.00 goals per game. Only one NHL team, the New Jersey Devils at 1.60, have been more inept offensively.
Furthermore, Crosby’s absence has changed how teams defend the Penguins. No longer do they need to worry about Crosby’s line, Evgeni Malkin’s line and the HBK line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel.
Teams have regularly been deploying their first or second defense pairings against the HBK line, one of the reasons it hasn’t registered a five-on-five goal in six games. Now, one of those three lines will see bottom-pairing defenders, and they’d be right to start licking their lips.
“It makes it a lot easier on everybody,” Chris Kunitz said. “(Crosby) comes in and plays top minutes against the other team’s top pair and pushes everybody back down.
“That’s one of our strengths when we’re healthy: We have such depth and guys that can attack that second, third, fourth or fifth defenseman. That makes it tough on their guys. A lot of teams don’t have the depth at center that we do. When Sid comes back in, it just makes it that much easier on everybody else.”
Monday’s workout was not an easy one. Crosby skated plenty and several times battled with defenseman Trevor Daley in front of the net during two-on-two drills.
During line rushes, Crosby worked with Scott Wilson at left wing and Patrick Hornqvist to his right. Crosby and Hornqvist have been together plenty. Wilson is adept at smashing one-timers, something that should mesh well with Crosby’s ability to create.
