Some fantastic news for Pittsburgh Penguins fans just minutes ahead of puck drop on an obviously pivotal Game 7 against the New York Rangers. Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Tristan Jarry are all in the lineup after dealing with injuries.
The news is monumental for the Penguins, who greatly missed the presence of all three players in Game 6.
Crosby was injured in Game 5 on a controversial hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. Prior to the hit, he had a stellar nine points in five games. He returns to center the top line between Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, who have both performed well in this series. Crosby was sidelined with reported concussion symptoms after the hit, however, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported this morning that Crosby did test negative for a concussion.
Rakell, the team’s big trade deadline acquisition, was injured after playing just 4:28 in Game 1’s triple-overtime win. With 13 points in 19 games down the stretch in Pittsburgh, he proved he could be an impactful scorer for them. He’ll fill out the top six on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen.
Jarry is potentially the biggest piece to return, though. Not having played for a month, Jarry comes in to replace third-string netminder Louis Domingue, who had performed admirably but struggled in Games 5 and 6. They’ll rely on Jarry to exorcise last year’s playoff demons and deliver for them in a big way tonight.
It’s not all good news, however. Assistant coach Mike Vellucci, whose main areas of emphasis are the penalty kill and the forwards, entered COVID protocol and is unavailable for the game.
how did that work?
As a hockey fan, I don’t enjoy when an announcer( of any sport) who is covering a National Broadcasted event makes their personal love of a Team very evident.
Kenny Albert as the lead announcer on the recent Rangers vs Penguins games are an example of this.
If this was a local broadcast cast, I get it. In my humble opinion, the National Broadcast Team should be unbiased.
Otherwise, I suggest you turn off the audio of the National Broadcast and listen to your Teams audio.
The broadcast is to be entertaining from both fan bases perspective.
Pay attention to some of the National Broadcasts and you will notice.
I can’t believe by the end of that game I was rooting for the Penguins. So many goons on NYR. Darn good team that is just scummy. That Panarin high-stick should be a suspension IMO.
Goons on the Rangers? Really? There just a hit first team. Arrive at the park in ill Umer