Given the way Game 6 ended up playing out for the Penguins Saturday night, the biggest moment for them may have come a few hours before the puck was dropped at Verizon Center.
That’s when captain Sidney Crosby was officially cleared to return to action.
Crosby ended up missing just one game with a concussion he sustained in Game 3 Monday. He led Penguins forwards in ice time Saturday with 19:10, registering three shots, eight shot attempts and an assist on Phil Kessel’s go-ahead power-play goal early in the second period.
Of course, for as relieved as Crosby was to be back on the ice, he couldn’t get his mind off the fact that the Penguins came away losers, 4-2, and allowed the Capitals to force a Game 6 back in Pittsburgh Monday.