CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Sidney Crosby did not participate in the Penguins' final scrimmage of training camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon.
But that might not be such a bad sign.
Crosby was already skating on the second sheet of ice with Casey DeSmith and skills coach Ty Hennes by the time the doors opened for media at 11:15 a.m., and he stayed on the ice until about 12:20 p.m. He then spoke with reporters over a video call after practice, and said that he's hoping to be able to skate with the team Monday in Toronto and play in the exhibition there Tuesday against the Flyers.
"Ideally I'd be able to play in that game," he said. "If not, I'm just going to go at it a day at a time from there. But hopefully I can get in that game."
Saturday was the fourth day in a row that Crosby skated on his own. Crosby was also a full participant in practice on Friday, receiving cheers and stick taps from his teammates when he finally stepped on the ice.
"When Sid is part of the act of practice, I just think it elevates our whole level of intensity and execution out there," Sullivan said of the moment Crosby returned Friday. "For me, that gesture, I felt really good for Sid. I'm sure he felt good as well to know how much his teammates respect him and care about him."
Crosby described himself as feeling physically well at Friday's practice.
"It was just good to get out there with the guys and have a little more game situation stuff going on," said Crosby. "But I felt good."
Crosby missed just over half of the training camp practices with the team, having first left the ice in the second half of the first camp scrimmage last Saturday, but doesn't feel as if he's missed out on too much after being able to skate on his own, and taking part in all of the informal skates as part of Phase 2.
"Ideally I would have liked to get in a little more of the scrimmages and be in game situations," he said. "With that being said, I think the fact that I've been able to skate for a good chunk of time will help getting through that. It's one of those things where I skated a long time, I didn't really feel like I needed another week of it. But that being said, things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully I'll get in that exhibition game."
MORE FROM SCRIMMAGE
• Jack Johnson appeared to get hurt at the start of the special teams work after the scrimmage. He took a puck to the glove, stayed on the ice for a few more seconds then went to the bench visibly in pain. He spoke with a trainer on the bench for a little bit then went to the locker room with the trainer. He never came back to the ice.
• This was Team Black's lineup:
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Patrick Marleau -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Sam Poulin -- Philip Varone -- Sam Miletic
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
• This was Team Gold's lineup:
Jake Guentzel -- Evan Rodrigues -- Conor Sheary
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson -- Sam Lafferty -- Anthony Angello
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Kevin Czuczman
Tristan Jarry
Emil Larmi
• This game was chippy. Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev nearly got into a fight in the second period. It looked like Tanev may have hit McCann a little high, and McCann let Tanev know he wasn't happy with the hit. There was some shoving and they dropped their gloves, but no actual punches were thrown, Mark Recchi, Marcus Pettersson and Patric Hornqvist stepped in quickly to break it up. This is all the stream caught of the incident:
After the second period ended, McCann and Tanev hugged before going to the locker room.
It was a physical game all around.
"I just think it's an indication of their investment into this process and this opportunity," Sullivan said of the physicality and intensity of the scrimmage. "Our guys are excited to play, and they're trying to get themselves game-ready. You always walk that fine line when you're having intrasquads of trying to play the game hard and play the game the right way, and being physical when you have the opportunity, but making sure that you're respectful of your teammates. I thought our guys did a real good job in that regard. It was the most intense intrasquad we've had."
• In the third period, Teddy Blueger was the one getting a little feisty. He was knocked down by Juuso Riikola and retaliated by breaking his stick over Riikola's arm:
• Earlier in the game, Tanev scored this goal to put Team Gold up 1-0:
• The line of Adam Johnson, Sam Lafferty, and Anthony Angello has been so impressive in these last two scrimmages. They got themselves a 3-on-1 against Pierre-Olivier Joseph in the second period after Kevin Czuczman picked off Kris Letang in Team Black's offensive zone. Angello finished for his second goal in as many games:
Johnson, Lafferty, and Angello are all obviously very familiar with each other from their time in Wilkes-Barre, Angello and Lafferty especially. They were linemates for awhile in Wilkes-Barre, and they played against each other often in college when Lafferty was at Brown and Angello was at Cornell. When Angello was in Wilkes-Barre he told me about their connection.
"It's almost kind of weird, it's like I know where he is on the ice at all times, and where he's going to be and how he plays," Angello said of Lafferty.
• Hornqvist scored a very Hornqvist-like goal to get Team Black on the board, redirecting a shot from Jason Zucker:
• Bryan Rust capitalized on a Czuczman turnover to tie the game for Team Black:
• Patrick Marleau's wrister from the top of the right circle gave Team Black its first lead of the game:
• Hornqvist scored an insurance goal for Team Black:
• Gold coach Jacques Martin pulled Jarry in the final minute and McCann sealed the 5-2 win with an empty netter.
• Jarry didn't have to face a ton of shots, but he had a solid game. He had this huge save on Riikola in the final minute of the second period:
"I think both goalies are tracking the right way," Sullivan said after the scrimmage. "They both had moments in all of the intrasquads where they made some big saves. I just think to allow them to go through that process and make the reads they need to make, and track the puck through traffic and all the things that game action presents, that's not easy to simulate in a practice environment, is really important from a goalie standpoint. But we think both of them have tracked extremely well to this point, and we'll just continue to work at it each and every day."
Sullivan would not say whether the goaltenders would split the exhibition game against the Flyers or whether one would start the whole game.
• Unfortunately, the war room in Toronto was not tuned in to this intrasquad scrimmage:
Disallowed? Come on, Reffin' ball! pic.twitter.com/cnygaeE4EC
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 25, 2020
• The day concluded with some special teams work. The top power play unit was Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Hornqvist, and McCann.
• The top penalty kill was Tanev, Blueger, Brian Dumoulin, and Jack Johnson.
The second power play unit was Justin Schultz, John Marino, Zucker, Rust, and Conor Sheary, with Patrick Marleau rotating in.
• Final rosters were due yesterday. The Penguins had 34 players in camp, and must trim that down to 31. Sullivan said that they'd only be taking four goalies, so Alex D'Orio would presumably be one of those cuts. I saw two of the extra players, Joseph and I believe D'Orio, heading out to the parking lot with their bags after practice.
• The full scrimmage can be seen here:
