Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been ruled out of Friday’s Game 6 against the New York Rangers, head coach Mike Sullivan announced on Friday hours before the contest.
Crosby did not attend Pittsburgh’s morning skate on Friday, but did skate with the team’s skills coach.
Crosby was taken out during Game 5, which the Penguins lose 5-3 at the hands of the Blue Shirts.
Crosby left the contest in the second period, going down the tunnel with one of the team’s athletic trainers. He took a hard hit from Jacob Trouba with 10:45 remaining in the second period. He fell to the ice, popped up and went to the bench. He played two more shifts before going to the dressing room with 5:43 remaining.
Once Crosby left, the Rangers took a 3-2 lead in just a few minutes. Though the Penguins managed to even up the score in a scoring mayhem, they couldn’t keep up with the Rangers’ relief to be without the opposing best player on the ice.
Crosby has been one of the Stanley Cup playoffs' top performers, collecting nine points in five games for Pittsburgh.
The Penguins now lead the Round 1 series 3-2 with Game 6 set to take place in Pittsburgh on Friday.
In other Penguins' roster news, Sullivan also announced that forward Rickard Rakell is a game-time decision, while defenceman Brian Dumoulin and goalie Tristan Jarry are also out of the lineup.
