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The night the Pens’ season almost died

Image (1) Crosby1-thumb-250x166-7241.jpg for post 311

It was almost the worst scenario imaginable for Penguins fans, and it’s still far from good. In the same game, the Pittsburgh Penguins almost lost both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby to potentially serious injury, and we’re still not certain what the extent of Malkin’s injury might be.

Crosby looked to have injured his knee just minutes into the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, when his right leg was caught underneath him when Steve Downie appeared to attempt to slew foot the NHL’s leading scorer. Crosby returned, and says it wasn’t as bad as some have made it out to be.

“I saw the replay between periods,” he said. “He kind of got his leg underneath me and was trying to catch up with me there. He got me in a pretty bad position.

“I don’t think there’s a need for his leg to be behind my knee like that, but after we both fall, I guess anything can happen. But when you put your leg behind a guy like that, it’s a little questionable. But those things happen. It’s part of the game sometimes.”

We’ll have more on Crosby’s potential injury once we learn something today, but it appears that he’ll be fine. Malkin, on the other hand, might not be. Malkin took a shot of his right leg and didn’t return to the game, and there’s no news on the severity of the injury. It could be nothing and he’ll be back for the next game.

Imagine if both Crosby and Malkin were seriously injured in the same game? I shudder at the roar that would come from Pittsburgh -- the heartbreak, the anger and the confusion.