The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t seem to care about anyone’s dreams of nostalgia during Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
In what was presented as potentially one of the final-ever matchups between Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, the Pens announced shortly before puck drop that Crosby won’t be playing, as he is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Not only that, but Crosby is among eight different Penguins who will miss the game.
The list, provided by Penguins PR, includes:
- Sidney Crosby (lower-body)
- Ben Kindel (upper-body)
- Evgeni Malkin (upper-body)
- Bryan Rust (lower-body)
- Parker Wotherspoon (upper-body)
- Erik Karlsson (lower-body)
- Kris Letang (upper-body)
- Connor Dewar (lower-body)
With their win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, the Penguins clinched a playoff spot and second place in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh can’t move up any further in the standings as the Carolina Hurricanes are 10 points ahead, making the last three games of their regular season purposeless.
Seven of the eight now “injured” players played in Pittsburgh’s game against the Devils, including Crosby, who recorded two assists in 14:43 of ice time.
The Capitals and Penguins are scheduled to play again on Sunday afternoon in Washington, DC. If Crosby and Ovechkin dress in that game, it will be their 100th all-time meeting, regular season and playoffs combined.
