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Pittsburgh Penguins captain and center captain Sidney Crosby is uncertain about Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at PPG Paints Arena.
Crosby had two assists Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to New Jersey, but he did not train on Wednesday. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Crosby was being assessed for an undisclosed upper body injury. Crosby shares the lead of the team with eight goals and 19 points in 16 games.
Pittsburgh called the center, Derek Grant, of AHL Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, but nothing was announced immediately and Crosby was not immediately on the injured list.
This is just a story that swirls around the Penguins, who are mired in a slump of 1-5-1 and who, at 7-6-3, are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh granted general manager Jim Rutherford a three-year contract extension until 2020-21, and he immediately traded left wing Carl Hagelin in Los Angeles against left wing Tanner Pearson.
"I'm usually patient enough, but my patience is exhausted," said Rutherford after trading a week after criticizing his team on the radio for failing to meet expectations in several areas.
"Obviously (Rutherford) sends a big message to the group," said club winger Patric Hornvist. "It's been 16 games, maybe we've had five good games."
Pearson could make his debut with the Penguins against the Lightning. He has scored at least 15 goals in each of his last three seasons, but has only one point – an assist – in 17 games with the Kings this season. Rutherford acknowledged that Pearson had had a slow start, but he added that he thought he would fit Pittsburgh well.
Tampa Bay (12-5-1) is leading the Eastern Conference and is two points behind Nashville for first place in the NHL, but has lost two consecutive games, including a 2- 1 Tuesday in Buffalo. This is the first time that the team loses consecutive games.
"Losing two straight lines leaves a little bad taste in our mouth," said Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde. "At the same time, that's why we're watching a video, that's why we're self-evaluating as a team, and if we get that effort (we had to fight Buffalo) we'll be more successful than ever."
Tampa fell into a 2-0 hole at Buffalo before qualifying for a solid finish. He hopes he will not have to play from behind, which happened several times in a row.
"We want to start better," said captain Steven Stamkos. "It's not an easy league to win, it's not an easy league to score goals, so when you score a goal or two goals early in the game, we know we have one." a (locker) room to come back, but you do not want to make it a trend. "
Lightning defender Anton Stralman, who has missed the last two games due to an upper body injury, has trained Wednesday. It is day to day.
This is the first meeting of the season between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. The Lightning lost three consecutive games in Pittsburgh, 16-6.
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