In the second period of Canada’s quarterfinal win over Czechia on Wednesday, the focus of Pittsburgh Penguins fans shifted from the gold medal pursuits of Sidney Crosby to whether or not he suffered a serious injury. After taking a big hit from defenseman Radko Gudas that saw the captain’s leg bend in an awkward manner, Crosby gingerly left the ice and slowly limped back to the locker room. He did not return to the game. It immediately raised concern for both team Canada and the Penguins.
On Thursday, Canada head coach Jon Cooper offered something of an update on Crosby. Cooper said that he is not ruling Crosby out for the remainder of the tournament, and that he is doing everything in his power to play in both the semifinal against Finland and a potential gold medal game.
Cooper emphasized they are not putting anybody in harm’s way, but that if Crosby can play, he will play.
“Sid is by no means ruled out of the tournament,’’ Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper said Thursday. “We’ve got the best of the best looking at him. … We’re taking this day by day. And we’re not going to put anyone in harm’s way. But if he can play, he’s definitely going to. We’ll know more again in 24 hours.’’
Long-time Penguins beat writer Josh Yohe echoed a similar sentiment, and that even though he is hearing Crosby is “iffy” to play Friday and this weekend, he “very much desires to play.”
At this point we are all still guessing until there is something more official from either Team Canada or the Penguins.
Having said that, the fact he reportedly had imaging done on Wednesday, and we are more than 24 hours out from the play, and they are not yet ruling him out seems to indicate that whatever injury he is dealing with may not be catastrophic for the season.
That does not mean he will not miss time for the Penguins. Or for Canada the rest of this week.
It seems logical to conclude that he is going to miss something. It is just a matter of how much time, and how the Penguins can withstand that. Games? Weeks? More than a month?
While it would not be ideal, I am not sure a few weeks would severely damage their season or playoff chances.
They are in a good position in the standings with a little bit of a cushion. Evgeni Malkin is still playing at a high level. Ben Kindel seems to have broken through the mid-season rookie wall he hit, just had three weeks off, and is playing some of his best (and most productive) hockey of the season. There is still some capable center depth on the roster.
It is also worth pointing out that without Crosby on the ice during 5-on-5 play this season the Penguins still own a plus-11 goal differential (86-75) and a 53 percent expected goals share. Granted, that comes with Crosby still in the lineup, playing in the game, and opening different players up for different roles, but the fact the second, third and fourth line have still mostly outplayed their competition is a good indicator it is a very good team beyond the captain.
At this point we are just in a wait-and-see mode. We will know more on Friday, especially if Crosby ends up playing.