DENVER — The sound inside Ball Arena on Monday morning (ET) was familiar: skates cutting, sticks tapping, coaches calling out line rushes. But one expected presence remained out of reach. Sidney Crosby skated with the Pittsburgh Penguins on their trip, yet he was still unlikely to play as the team prepared to face the Colorado Avalanche at 9: 30 p. m. ET.
Is Sidney Crosby playing vs. the Avalanche?
Sidney Crosby was unlikely to play Monday night in Colorado. He has not played since sustaining a lower-body injury while playing for Team Canada against Team Czechia in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 18. In Denver, he did not take part as a returning player at morning skate and instead took line rushes with extra forwards Kevin Hayes and Avery Hayes.
The Penguins did have one major return: Evgeni Malkin was set to be back in the lineup after completing a five-game suspension that came from a slashing incident involving Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin on March 5.
What changes did the Penguins make at morning skate without Sidney Crosby?
With Evgeni Malkin available again, coach Dan Muse reshaped the forward groups and reunited Malkin with Russian winger Egor Chinakhov and center Tommy Novak. The morning skate in Denver also brought a string of smaller, practical adjustments that spoke to the reality of a road trip where not everyone is ready at once.
Blake Lizotte was absent from the morning skate, leaving the Penguins without another center option. Rookie Ville Koivunen remained in the lineup on the third line with center Ben Kindel and Justin Brazeau, who returned to full line rushes Monday after the team had announced on March 10 that Brazeau was out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
On the blue line, former Colorado defenseman Sam Girard was present but skated as a spare defenseman. The Penguins also recalled defenseman Jack St. Ivany from a 14-day conditioning assignment with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, though he was not present at the skate. In a corresponding move, the Penguins returned extra defenseman Alex Alexeyev to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
What have the Penguins shown during the stretch without key centers?
The Penguins’ recent results have reflected a team trying to keep its footing while significant pieces shuffle in and out. Pittsburgh went 2-1-2 during Evgeni Malkin’s absence, including 1-1-1 through the first three games of its five-game road trip. In the standings, the Penguins were tied with the New York Islanders for second in the Metropolitan Division.
Now comes the test of translating that patchwork stability into a night against the NHL-leading Avalanche. Colorado entered Monday at 44-12-9 and had dropped two of its past three games, with its lead on the Dallas Stars for first in the Central Division and league standings cut to three points.
For the Penguins, the storyline is less about grand declarations and more about the small decisions made at ice level: who takes a shift with whom, which returnee gets reinserted into a familiar rhythm, and how long a team can keep absorbing absences at center before the margins finally bite.
In Denver, those margins were visible in the morning skate flow itself. The lineup was being built around who could go, not who was missing — yet the missing captain remained the unignorable silhouette at the edge of the plan.
Who are the key players to watch in Penguins vs. Avalanche at 9: 30 p. m. ET?
Colorado’s headline name is Nathan MacKinnon, who had 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) and was plus-14 in his past 12 games. He trailed Connor McDavid by five points for the NHL lead with 109 points (44 goals, 65 assists) and carried a league-best plus-57 in 64 games.
For Pittsburgh, the immediate on-ice focal point becomes Evgeni Malkin’s return and how quickly the Penguins’ reassembled lines can handle Colorado’s pace. The Penguins’ morning skate in Denver offered a snapshot of that effort: a team recalibrating in real time, leaning on returning pieces where it can, and holding space for a player who has been skating but still isn’t ready to step back into the game.
By the time puck drop arrives at 9: 30 p. m. ET, the crowd will see a Penguins lineup that has been forced to adapt. And even if Sidney Crosby doesn’t dress, his absence will still shape the night — in the line combinations, in the workload distribution, and in the quiet expectation that the captain’s next full return is still ahead.
Image caption (alt text): Sidney Crosby skates with the Penguins on the road trip but remains unlikely to play against the Avalanche.
