Crosby unsure about playing Sunday: “I probably haven’t been as tested as much as I would like”

[Teagz]

We still don’t know if Sidney Crosby is going to play Sunday when the Penguins face the Bruins (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC.)

But we do know when we’ll find out.

Crosby told reporters he’ll make a decision on Saturday about his availability for Sunday’s affair. While No. 87 indicated he might not have absorbed enough contact yet to resume playing, he didn’t rule out the possibility of coming back for the nationally-televised affair.

Crosby also stated he was pleased with his response to this week’s on-ice workouts.

“It went pretty good, but we haven’t practiced a lot,” Crosby told NHL.com. “A couple of morning skates and [working] with two guys yesterday…I probably haven’t been as tested as much as I would like.”

On Thursday, Crosby continued to work while some of his Penguins teammates enjoyed the day off. He skated with forwards Dustin Jeffrey and Eric Tangradi who, according to reports, “shoved [Crosby] during faceoff drills and puck-possession drills in the corners.”

If Crosby doesn’t play on Sunday, it’ll be interesting to see when he does return. The Penguins head out on a three-game roadie following the Boston game — in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia — before returning home on Tuesday, Mar. 20 for a game against Winnipeg.

 

[Teagz]

UPDATE

The hopes of seeing Sidney Crosby return to action tomorrow afternoon against the Bruins are dashed.

After Crosby was cleared for contact in practice and hopes building up to the weekend that he might suit up for the first time in months, Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Crosby will not play tomorrow. The Penguins do report, however, that Crosby hasn’t had any symptoms or setbacks. Good news in small doses is nice, too.

Crosby’s next chance to play comes on Thursday night in New York against the Rangers. With a few more days to work out and get better prepared to play, Pittsburgh hopes that Crosby could be ready to go by then. Expect the lead up to each Penguins game to be like this until Crosby hits the ice in a game again.

 

[snipezo]

Hopefully he can finally stay healthy. Penguins are a very very scary team with a healthy Crosby in the lineup.