Saturday July 25: Penguins final intra-squad scrimmage

The Penguins are prepping for the variable times that they will have to deal with in the bubble by making their fourth and final intro-squad scrimmage a 12 noon start. This comes a few days after a Thursday night 7pm scrimmage.

This week’s theme has been a return to availability for some key pieces. Patric Hornqvist has practiced with the full team for the first time in Phase 3 and slotted into his expected place on the third line. Even better, Sidney Crosby rejoined the team for a full practice yesterday, after a few days of skating on his own.

It’ll be interesting to see if they hold Crosby out on the side of extreme caution or let him test his issue out. Crosby played for a portion of the first team scrimmage, but after the first period break didn’t last too long when they restarted.

This is the last on-ice event for the team, they will depart from their families for a stay of unknown length in Toronto tomorrow before settling in and getting an exhibition game against Philly next week. Then, the main event begins a week from today with the Penguins and Montreal Canadiens beginning their five game qualification round series.