Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will miss his second straight game Saturday, coach Mike Sullivan told reporters in Philadelphia ahead of puck drop against the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Crosby was ruled out of Friday’s contest, ending a streak of 229 consecutive games played, at the New York Rangers and continues to nurse a suspected left arm injury.
Per Josh Getzoff of SportsNet Pittsburgh, Sullivan indicated the 37-year-old Crosby, who partook in the Penguins’ morning skate Friday, was feeling better but remains day-to-day.
Saturday represents the Penguins’ final game before a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, in which Crosby is set to serve as Team Canada’s captain.
Crosby’s absence forced the Penguins to alter their top line Friday against New York, with Rickard Rakell deputizing as center, skating with Bryan Rust and Anthony Beauvillier as wingers.
More tinkering will be required to that grouping, as Saturday also brought news that Rust was headed to injured reserve with an unspecified ailment.
He joins Evgeni Malkin, also on injured reserve, who has been sidelined week-to-week and last played Jan. 25.
As a result, the Penguins called up forward Vasily Ponomarev from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Emil Bemstrom, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading scorer, was recalled Friday to add forward depth and made his Penguins season debut, skating for 12 minutes, 40 seconds with one shot as left wing on Kevin Hayes’ third line.
The Penguins will also be without forward Boko Imama on Saturday, whom Sullivan ruled out due to injury.
Imama, who has appeared in six games for the Penguins this season, typically deploying on the fourth line, left Friday’s game in the first period and did not return.