It is a dark day for hockey in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins had their incredible streak end and lost an opportunity to take the lead in the division. But that wasn't the biggest loss of the game. Sidney Crosby was injured in the first period, diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain. He's the 3rd Penguin to suffer that injury this season, Max Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury being the others. The Pens will now have to move on without the best player in the world for a significant amount of time. A high-ankle sprain can take anywhere from a few weeks to two months to heal. It seems cruel. Just when it seemed like everything was coming together, when everything was going right, when it seemed like this team could beat anyone, they suffer this. But this day is expected. Players, even the really good ones, get injured. The Penguins should be used to it by now, seeing how they just went through the career of Mario Lemieux. The general's been shot. But this team must not back down. It has to rally and hold the fort until he returns. Most of the burden will now fall on the shoulders of Evgeni Malkin. Luckily, the Penguins don't have a shortage of franchise centers to take Crosby's place. But it can't just be Malkin, the whole team need to take their game a step further. They must continue to play sound defense. Guys like Petr Sykora, Ryan Malone, Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, and Kris Letang must step up their offensive game. And please, Jordan Staal, now is the time to end your sophomore slump.
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