Sidney Crosby's status is still up in the air after taking an elbow up high from Jacob Trouba in the second period of the Penguins' 5-3 loss to the Rangers in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday night in New York.
"Sid will be evaluated when he goes back to Pittsburgh with us today," Mike Sullivan told reporters via video chat Thursday morning.
The Penguins were originally scheduled to practice Thursday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, but it was canceled. The team will fly back to Pittsburgh at some point during the day.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the team recalled forward Radim Zohorna, who can play center or wing, from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Sullivan wouldn't clarify if Crosby's injury was to the head, saying only, "His injury is an upper-body injury. I'm not going to get into more specifics than that."
The decision for Crosby to exit the game, Sullivan said, came after he went to the bench and had a discussion with Chris Stewart, the Penguins' athletic trainer, rather than an NHL concussion spotter.
Trouba won't have a hearing for a suspension or fine for the hit, per Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
Asked before the Post report if Trouba should face supplemental discipline, Sullivan said it's not his responsibility to share his opinion and that it's the league's job to handle.
Trouba met with reporters in New York Thursday afternoon and was asked about the hit.
"I didn't know, at the time ... I didn't know that was the play he got injured on," Trouba said. "Kind of tried going stick-on-puck when he was gonna shoot, but my stick kinda went in between his legs and kinda hit his thigh, and I kinda pushed my arm up, and kind of a fluky play. It wasn't really ... I mean, massively hard contact. Unfortunately, you don't wanna ever see a guy get hurt. I don't know exactly what the injury is, but hopefully he's better soon."
Sullivan didn't sound as if he was trembling at the thought that Crosby could miss some time.
"We have a lot of depth at all the positions, and we believe we have what it takes to win," he said. "We've got a capable group. This group has always had the next man up mentality, and we'll continue to do that moving forward here. We're not gonna get ahead of ourselves. We're gonna take each day as it comes here. But, regardless of what our lineup looks like each and every night, we believe we have what it takes to win ... We'll make decisions on a game-to-game basis based on who's available to us, and we'll try to put the best lineup on the ice that gives us the best chance to win."
If Crosby does miss time, his on-ice impact will obviously be felt, and that holds true on the bench and in the locker room as well.
"He's a great leader," Sullivan said. "He's the standard. He personifies what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin. He's not only a leader through his actions, but he's a leader through his demeanor and how he carries himself, and he's a voice of reason through an emotional, turbulent game."
Our Taylor Haase spotted Crosby leaving the Garden after the game. She reported that there was nothing visibly wrong with him.
MORE FROM THE COACH:
• Sullivan sounded an optimistic note on the status of Tristan Jarry: "He's making significant progress. We're really encouraged, and we'll take each day as it comes."
Jarry took a big step in his rehab Wednesday in New York when he joined the team for its optional morning skate.
• Asked if the statuses of injured skaters Brian Dumoulin and Rickard Rakell remain the same, Sullivan responded: "Today, yes."
• The Penguins will likely hold a skate Friday morning in advance of Game 6. I would expect most, if not all, healthy skaters to participate, as the general rule of thumb during the playoffs is for each skater to hit the ice once in between games.
• Dejan Kovacevic, Taylor and I will all be back at PPG Paints Arena Friday night to bring you coverage of Game 6.
