CRANBERRY, Pa. -- On a day when Patric Hornqvist and more than a quarter of the Penguins' training camp roster was finally cleared to participate, the one prominent absence still stood out.
Sidney Crosby was held out of the team's second scrimmage of camp, Monday morning at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, marking his second straight day of inactivity. He exited early from the first scrimmage, Saturday, and didn't practice Sunday.
There was no word on his status, and Mike Sullivan made clear after the scrimmage that none will be forthcoming, either, citing the NHL's new policy prohibiting the disclosure of injuries and illnesses.
"As far as Sid’s concerned," Sullivan replied to a reporter's question, "We’re not permitted to comment on those circumstances.”
That part is open to interpretation, apparently. When the Golden Knights held Max Pacioretty out of practice, also Monday, Vegas coach Peter DeBoer deemed Pacioretty "unable to practice," but added that Pacioretty hadn't tested positive for the coronavirus.
Peter DeBoer says Max Pacioretty is "unable to participate."
Clarified that it was not a positive COVID test. #VegasBorn
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) July 20, 2020
There've been other similar examples around the league.
Crosby couldn't reasonably be presumed to have any issue other than a physical injury, given his exit from game action. But the closest the Penguins have come to any depiction of his status was linemate Conor Sheary downplaying the matter as "a maintenance thing," hockey jargon for a minor, lingering injury.
For what it's worth, everything I'm hearing here is the same. Nothing serious.
And as possible support for that, Sullivan again elected to use Evan Rodrigues on the top forward line in Crosby's stead, centering Jake Guentzel and Sheary. If Crosby were hurt to the extent the Penguins would worry about his availability for the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs -- Game 1 against the Canadiens is Aug 1 in Toronto -- precedent powerfully suggests they'd rearrange the lines with a more permanent feel.
As it was, these were the breakdowns of the Black and Gold teams that scrimmaged to a 3-3 tie:
BLACK
Guentzel-Rodrigues-Sheary
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
Dumoulin-Letang
Johnson-Schultz
Murray
GOLD
Marleau-McCann-Lafferty
Aston-Reese-Blueger-Tanev
Pettersson-Marino
Czuczman-Ruhwedel
Jarry
Fifteen minutes before the scrimmage, the Penguins announced that the nine players who'd been held out of camp out of "an abundance of caution" related to the coronavirus, were cleared to participate. In addition to Hornqvist, those were Anthony Angello, Adam Johnson, Samuel Poulin, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Philip Varone, Sam Miletic, Juuso Riikola and Alex D’Orio.
Rather than thrust those nine into a scrimmage immediately, they were sent to the complex's second rink for a 90-minute session of skating and drills, joining the depth goaltenders, Casey DeSmith and Emil Larmi, in doing so.
“We chose to give them an opportunity to get a couple of days of skating amongst themselves, first and foremost, before they rejoin the group," Sullivan explained. "We didn’t want to put those guys right into a game with the layoff that they’ve had."
Also, the Penguins scheduled an additional scrimmage to camp, raising the total to four. The final two will now take place Thursday, 7 p.m., and Saturday, noon. The team is scheduled to leave for Toronto, the hub city for the Stanley Cup playoffs, Sunday. Coincidentally or not, that'll offer Hornqvist -- and maybe Crosby -- more game action before heading north.
MORE FROM CAMP
• Lafferty's giving himself a shot
• Domi reports to Canadiens' camp
• Series breakdown: Goaltenders
