- Sidney Crosby didn’t take a shootout attempt in Pittsburgh’s loss to Columbus
- Dan Muse went with Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel instead
- Read below for Muse’s explanation and Crosby’s numbers through five games
Sidney Crosby sat out the shootout in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on Friday, and Penguins coach Dan Muse explained why.
Muse sent out Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel at Nationwide Arena. Columbus goalie Cam Talbot stopped all three, and Kent Johnson’s goal was the only one of the shootout.
Muse was asked about leaving his captain out of the rotation.
“Sid’s definitely in the mix,” Muse said. “It’s just, there’s a number of guys and you’re making that decision based on right now. But he’s definitely going to be a guy, too, who we look to in the future.”
We tweeted about the move right after the game. It was believed to be the first time a healthy Crosby had been left out of Pittsburgh’s top three shootout shooters:
Crosby has two assists in five games this season, with no goals on 15 shots and a minus-3 rating. He logged 19:40 against Columbus and had three shots on goal.
The Penguins fell to 2-2-1 and have lost three straight (0-2-1). Muse said his team found its game in the third period after Bryan Rust cut it to 2-1 in the second.
Crosby saw it the same way after the game. He talked about the late push and the two goals that fueled it.
“We got a big goal from Rusty there, and then ‘Gino,’” Crosby said. “So, we started to find our game there later as it went.”
Evgeni Malkin tied the game 2-2 early in the third period. Talbot then shut the door in the shootout, a night that made him the first goalie in NHL history to win with nine different franchises. We covered that milestone in our Talbot record story.
Watch the shootout clip:
Pittsburgh hosts the Stars on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
