For the first time in a long time the Penguins will be without their captain on the ice. Crosby famously missed the lion’s share of his physical prime when he was out with concussion and neck issues. In his later years he has been pretty healthy. The latest stretch of games was the longest he played without missing a game.

Sid had played in 229 straight games, the longest such streak of his career, and 287 of the last 288. His last missed game was also @ NYR on 4/7/22.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91.bsky.social) February 7, 2025 at 11:14 AM

Sid’s consecutive games played streak is the ninth-longest in team history. Those longer:
Kessel (328)
Adams (319)
Schock (313)
Staal (302)
Harbaruk (276)
Malkin (254)
Dupuis (238)
Stackhouse (235)

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91.bsky.social) February 7, 2025 at 11:14 AM

Crosby being healthy during the past few years is another reason to be so frustrated at the various front offices of this team. It was supposed to be Crosby and Malkin slowing down, not all the players surrounding them. Crosby continued to give the team terrific play even at his advanced NHL age.

Evgeni Malkin is also going to miss tonight’s game. Marking the first time in a while both have missed action. Some more good Bob Grove stats documenting the occasion

The last time Sid and Geno were both out for a game was 11/13/21 @ Ottawa, a 3-6 loss. Sid was out with Covid, Geno with a knee injury.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91.bsky.social) February 7, 2025 at 11:15 AM

Pens’ leading scorers when 87+71 are both out:

Letang (55 GP, 5-32-38)
Staal (40 GP, 12-16-28)
Kennedy (40 GP, 14-11-25)
Dupuis (45 GP, 10-13-23)
Kunitz (34 GP, 9-14-23)

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91.bsky.social) February 7, 2025 at 11:17 AM

It is hard not to be jaded and think that this will be yet another scenario where a player got hurt in a game, returned to play the rest of the game, and then missed a sizable amount of time. It seems like a Penguins tradition unlike any other. For now, I don’t believe this is the path for Crosby. He was on the ice today at the morning skate and looked to be pretty active and making plays. If he had a truly damning upper body injury I don’t think he would be looking like this

Mike Sullivan said that Sidney Crosby will not play tonight. “Taking it one day at a time,” the Penguins head coach said. He added that Alex Nedeljkovic will start in goal against the Rangers.

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 7, 2025

Even with Crosby and Malkin down for now we still have at least one member of the Penguins Mt. Rushmore active. Double J is out there making 20 somethings look foolish

Poď sem, kam ideš ako na partičke. 52 ročný Jaromír Jágr 🫡

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— Tomáš Prokop (@lewysko.bsky.social) January 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM

And now we know where he gets his longevity from.

Jaromir Jagr out on the ice playing hockey with his 78-year-old mom. The gene pool in that family is unmatched 🧬

(via @68Jagr) pic.twitter.com/HKNFF23LCl

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 7, 2025

Thanks for reading!

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