Sidney Crosby suffers concussion

ToughBad but probably somewhat expected news confirmed today after Penguins practice: Sidney Crosby suffered a concussion last night.

Mike Sullivan says Sidney Crosby was diagnosed with concussion. Out tomorrow. Will be evaluated day to day from there

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 2, 2017

Tough one to take, but seemed pretty clear after first getting smacked (and near slew-footed) by Alex Ovechkin and then sticked in the head by Matt Niskanen it would have been difficult to not see a concussion.

Crosby, of course, has a long history of head/neck injuries, including a concussion suffered just before the start of the regular season that cost him about three weeks.

In somewhat positive news, Sullivan said there is no lower-body injury on the play, welcome news considering the number Ovechkin did on Crosby there followed again by Niskanen knocking him later.

And in what reeks of gamesmanship:

Sullivan said Crosby is "very upbeat" and tPens are "optimistic they'll get him back in a timely fashion."

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 2, 2017

We'll see how "timely" that could be, however it seems like a long-shot Crosby is cleared and returns anytime in the near, near future due the previous concussions. But, now we wait for the stupid takes and crazy thoughts are sure to follow. No, the Capitals did not plan this. Yes, it still was a series of bad plays by Ovechkin and Niskanen, despite intentions. Yes, they benefit anyways. No, they hopefully won't win because of this. No, the Penguins shouldn't play Tom Sestito or try to play eye-for-an-eye.

The Crosby-less Pens are still up 2 games to 1 on the Capitals and Game 4 is tomorrow night.