Pens Win Without Crosby, Malkin

(NHL.com)-On Friday in New York, the Penguins played without their captain for the first time since 2022, when Sidney Crosby missed Game 6 of the First Round against the Rangers. He missed tonight’s contest with an upper-body injury, ending his consecutive games played streak at 229. Head Coach Mike Sullivan said, “Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time” when it comes to Crosby’s situation, but that it’s encouraging he was on the ice for the optional game-day skate. “Obviously, he’s an important player for us,” Sullivan said. “When he’s not in our lineup, he’s a hard guy to replace. He’s the heartbeat of this team. So, we’re going to do our best to put our best game on the ice tonight.” Crosby joined Evgeni Malkin (lower body, week-to-week) on the injury list, which meant other players had big opportunities to step up – and that’s what they did. They brought the high compete level that Sullivan said would be necessary for success, and battled their way to a 3-2 win to begin this year’s Highmark Dads Trip. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves, while Blake Lizotte, Rickard Rakell and Phil Tomasino all scored for Pittsburgh.