Rangers rally to stay alive; Penguins lose Game 5, Crosby to injury

If you needed a reminder that things can swing wildly during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the last two nights should do the trick. For a part of Game 5, it looked like the Penguins would eliminate the Rangers. Instead, the Rangers rallied to win Game 5 by a score of 5-3, and a Sidney Crosby injury looms over this very-much-alive series.

Teams are cagey about injuries even with low stakes, so we’ll see how much we learn about this injury to Sidney Crosby.

All we know is that Crosby couldn’t continue in Game 5, and that there will be a Game 6 between the Rangers and Penguins.

Coach Sullivan on if he has any updates on Sidney Crosby: "No, he is being evaluated right now."

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 12, 2022

If the rest of this series follows this lead, expect more twists and turns between the Rangers and Penguins.

After an awful Game 4 loss, Gerard Gallant buried the Rangers as “soft.” While the team’s in-zone coverage was still lacking at times, they certainly responded with physicality.

Jacob Trouba was one of the most prominent of those hitters. Very early in Game 5, Trouba was whistled for elbowing Jake Guentzel. That wasn’t the bit of contact that could change things for both the Rangers and the Penguins, though.

Sidney Crosby left the ice after a high hit by Jacob Trouba. As you can see from the clip below, Crosby also took a high-stick during Game 5. After leaving the ice during the second period, Sidney Crosby did not return for the Penguins in Game 5.

Here’s the hit:

This hit has kept Sidney Crosby out since the second period. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/AcN9kAH8wn

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 12, 2022

This also includes the high-stick:

Not great pic.twitter.com/ZvcjCgn0Qn

— John (@jtarbett) May 12,