Sidney Crosby will not play tonight against the Lightning.
And he might not play this weekend against the Senators in Ottawa or, for that matter, next Monday's home game against the Sabres.
Crosby is out with an upper body injury sustained during Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Devils in Newark. Technically, the captain is out day to day but Mike Sullivan said Crosby could miss a week.
The coach reiterated it is an upper body injury and not a concussion ailing the captain. Crosby skated on his own before the start of Thursday's morning skate but was ruled a no go.
It would seem likely Crosby suffered the injury after crashing left shoulder-first into the end boards after driving the net on Jake Guentzel's third-period goal against the Devils:
The loss of Crosby comes at a most inopportune time for the Penguins, who have lost six of their last seven games and host Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay at PPG Paints Arena tonight. Crosby, who appeared in every game last season for the first time in his career, is tied as the Penguins' second-leading scorer.
With Crosby out, along with Derick Brassard, the Penguins' much-hyped center depth will be pushed to its limits.
"We're going to have to do it by committee at this point," Sullivan said. "We have a couple of our centers who are out. It's going to be a great opportunity for others to step up and play a more significant role, more significant minutes. Guys have to take advantage of that opportunity."
Outside of Evgeni Malkin, who leads the team in assists (14) and points (21), the Penguins have not received much production from their other centers.
Riley Sheahan will likely move up to a second line role while Derek Grant, recalled Wednesday, will likely center the third line and Matt Cullen the fourth. Sheahan and Cullen have scored just one goal each while Grant has zero points in the six games he appeared in earlier this season.
Perhaps the most inexplicable lack of scoring has come from Sheahan, who scored 11 goals last season but hasn't scored in his last 14. Of course that's nothing compared to the 79-game drought he endured in 2016-17 before scoring twice in Detroit's regular-season finale.
Sullivan says he's had a number of conversations with Sheahan about working on the other aspects of his game -- faceoffs and penalty killing -- and letting the offense come to him. He gave the 26-year-old another vote of confidence Thursday. But so far that message hasn't resonated with Sheahan, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end.
The veteran center admits it's been frustrating but is trusting that his hard work in practice is going to soon be rewarded.
"Just got to keep going, keep plugging away, focusing in practice and hitting the net, and getting to those tough areas," Sheahan was telling me. "Other than that, not let the mental grind get to you."
