Crosby Skates with His Teammates
Jarry and Rakell also took part in Saturday's optional practice
CROSBY SKATES; SO DO JARRY AND RAKELL
After a heartbreaking loss last night in Game 6, the city of Pittsburgh got some much-needed good news this afternoon as Sidney Crosby was back on the ice with his teammates.
He has been sidelined since suffering an upper-body injury on a high hit from Jacob Trouba in the second period of Game 5 on Wednesday. After the team returned home on Thursday, the captain skated on his own with skills coach Ty Hennes on Friday before practicing with the group today.
"He's in good spirits," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's in a good place. He's doing his very best to get himself back and ready as quickly as he can. We'll see how that process goes.
"But I think any time he's on the ice, I think it's good for our team, it's good for our players, it's good for our morale. That's certainly a boost for our guys."
Goaltender Tristan Jarry, who has been practicing with the team since rejoining them for their optional skate ahead of Game 5, also skated. The All-Star netminder has yet to make his playoff debut this season, as he's been out since April 15 with a lower-body injury.
And to round out the positive news on the injury front, trade deadline acquisition Rickard Rakell - who sustained an upper-body injury on a high hit from Ryan Lindgren in the first period of Game 1 - took part as well. The forward first skated with the group in a non-contact fashion ahead of Game 4 and has since progressed to full contact.
Sullivan said at this point, he wasn't going to speculate about whether any of those players could be game-time decisions for Game 7.
"We'll take each day as it comes," Sullivan said. "They're obviously on the ice, that's encouraging. They're making progress."
OTHER INJURY UPDATES
Sullivan said that defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who has been out since Game 1 with a lower-body injury, is progressing in his rehab off the ice and did not skate today. He is status quo.
Forward Brian Boyle, who left in the first period of Game 6 with a lower-body injury, is continuing to be evaluated.
GAME 7 APPROACH
The past week has been a rollercoaster for not just Penguins fans living and dying with each game, but for everybody in that locker room as well. After getting out to a commanding 3-1 series lead with emphatic wins in Game 3 last Saturday and Game 4 on Monday, the Rangers stormed back to force Game 7 after overcoming 2-0 deficits in both Game 5 and Game 6.
"There's highs and lows, there's ups and downs, there's successes and disappointments," Sullivan said. "That's the nature of playoff hockey. And one of the challenges of going through it is trying to make sure that, good or bad, you have an ability to hit the reset button and just get back to work and stay in the moment. There's a reason it's seven games. It's the first team to win four, and that's where we're at."
There were so many storylines going into this series, which has certainly neverhad a dull moment. Some of them played out as expected; others, not so much - like the whole goaltending situation.
One that will be interesting to keep an eye on tomorrow night is how Pittsburgh's experience might serve them in such a high-stakes, do-or-die game. Being able to rely on such battle-tested veterans during the ebbs and flows should be huge for the Penguins.
"For us going into tomorrow, I think we're confident in our game plan, which is big," said Jeff Carter, who is 5-0 in his career in Game 7s. "Then after that, it's go out and play. Leave it all out there, see what happens. If you go in with the right mindset and you leave it all out there, most of the time you're gonna come out on top. So that's what we'll look to do."
Something else that should provide at least a little comfort to Penguins fans in this stressful situation is that the team is 6-0 all-time on the road in Game 7.
"Game 7s are fun," Carter said. "Obviously, they're high-intensity games. I think sometimes there's a lot of pressure when playing a Game 7 at home, and I think if you can go out as a road team and have a good start, it can go a long way."
