p; The Pittsburgh Penguins head into tonight’s matchup against the Wahington Capitals short of their two elite snipers and team leaders in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The early season has been reminiscent of last year’s injury woes for the two, as they each missed half of the season with injury. The Penguins and Capitals have built up a bitter rivalry over the years, leading up to a surely great game tonight. Though the Pens are short their two studs for their fifth game of the season, they are absolutely thrilled with the news that team captain and leader Sidney Crosby has finally been cleared for contact. It’s odd how things work out, as Crosby initially sustained the concussion that has seen him out for entirely too long against the Capitals in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic on January 1st . Crosby took part this morning in his first full-contact practice since January.
"Yeah, it's full contact, so it's a good step in the right direction," Crosby said following his first full-scale practice since January. "It's a big step … it's a big one and we'll see how things go. But I don't think it's hard to be patient at this point," he admitted. "I'm getting closer and I want to make sure I respond well in the next however long it is."
Crosby Will not make his season debut tonight against the Capitals, but instead will work hard in practice to return to complete playing shape with an ability to absorb actual hits in actual game situations. The face of the NHL has been skating with the team since preseason and working incredibly hard on his skating and shooting abilities.
"Going through training camp, (from) where he came from, was significant and helped with that process. He's been with a line, he's been in full drills, even in some drills that had contact although he had the non-contact helmet. It's significantly different than coming back halfway through season," Bylsma said. "That helps with the situation."
Watching the 24 year-old in practice would not lead one to assume he’s missed any time at all. Crosby and head coach Dan Bylsma aren’t pushing the issue with his return.
Crosby is an invaluable asset to the team that drafted him 1st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and is equally invaluable to the National Hockey League. The League justly dubbed him as “The Next One” and Crosby has done nothing but prove that he is through six years played in the NHL.
"I'm not going to give you a timetable and I'm not going to make one right now," Bylsma said. "Going through training camp, (after) where he came from, was significant and helped with that process. He's been with a line, he's been in full drills, even in some drills that had contact although he had the non-contact helmet. It's significantly different than coming back halfway through season. That helps with the situation."
"Basically, after I talked to the doctor, doing light stuff like that (practice drills) and feeling pretty good, the way I responded the last couple of weeks was a good sign," said Crosby. "We discussed things and we decided I was ready to kind of go to the next step here and go to full contact."
“Full Contact” are two words the Penguins fans and NHL in general have been anxiously waiting to hear.
Crosby has carried success with him everywhere he has gone. The youngest captain to ever win the Stanley Cup has also accomplished an Olympic gold medal, a Hart Trophy, and the Art Ross Trophy all by age 22. Crosby has played 412 games with the Penguins, notching a staggering 215 goals and 357 assists for 572 points. In 62 playoff games he has registered 30 goals and 52 assists for 82 points.
Crosby was well on his way to a career high in points as he came out of the gates blazing. Through 41 games Crosby had already notched 32 goals and 34 assists for 66 points and a +20 rating. Despite only playing 41 games, he still finished the year as the team leader in points and goals. His early numbers haven’t been seen since the hay-day of the legendary Mario Lemieux.
Crosby wasn’t the only Penguins stud last year to miss a great deal of time as forward Evgeni Malki too missed half of the year. In the offseason, Malkin had his injured knee surgically repaired, and started off in the preseason as easily one of the best players league-wide. Malkin appeared to not have missed a beat in a full recovery as he netted a goal and an assist in two preseason games. Malkin would only make It through two regular season games before sustaining a lower body injury against the Calgary Flames last Saturday. Head coach Dan Bylsma stressed that the cause of his absence was not related to the knee Malkin had surgically repaired in a serious manor. The extent or details of the injury have been hush-hush in the city of Pittsburgh to an extent, as the entire hockey world remains hopeful that the club isn’t hiding a harsh reality to avoid the pushing of the panic button in Pittsburgh. Malkin is reportedly suffering from a common amount of inflammation of the repaired knee.
"After the second period my knee started to feel a little bit tired," he said referring to Saturday's game in Calgary. "I tried to skate but couldn't push it. I don't know why. Nothing was wrong before the game. It just started to feel a little sore, and I didn't feel comfortable."
The Penguins’ Malkin will be a game time decision according to head coach Dan Bylsma for tonight’s Eastern Conference matchup.
The Pens are undefeated in regulation thus far going 3-0-1, and face their most difficult opponent yet tonight as they meet up with Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Pens may have benefited by having some relatively easier competition in their first few games, but looking forward it may be much more difficult early on for the Pens as they wait for their two stars to get back on the ice. The Penguins are playing 13 games in October, having already played four. They play their last eight games in ten days.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are well coached, and well built, and are fully capable of overcoming. Even with the unknown health factor of these two players the Pens are an obvious threat to win the Stanley Cup this year.
- Kendall Grubbs
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