The Pittsburgh Penguins are dealing with four injuries in this opening-round series.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are moving towards Game 6 with major question marks to their lineup. Tristan Jarry has missed the entire series, while captain Sidney Crosby left Game 5 with an upper-body injury.
Meanwhile, Rickard Rakell and Brian Dumoulin are also missing time.
Head coach Mike Sullivan spoke about the team's injuries prior to the flight back to Pittsburgh, saying there's still questions about Crosby, but Jarry is making even more progress.
"Sidney Crosby will be evaluated when he goes back to Pittsburgh with us today. His injury is an upper-body injury," Sullivan said. "I'm not going to get into more specifics with that."
Sullivan said the team isn't worried about missing Crosby, and will instead focus on the players available.
"We can win games regardless of who is in our lineup," Sullivan said. "We have a lot of depth at all of the positions. We believe we have what it takes to win... This group has always had the 'next man up' mentality."
For Jarry, he continues to make progress. After skating with goalie coach Andy Chiodo for several days in a row, he joined the rest of the team for optional skate prior to Game 5.
"He's making significant progress," Sullivan said. "We're really encouraged. We'll take each day as it comes."
For Dumoulin and Rakell, Sullivan said it's "status quo" for both. Neither have played since Game 1.
The team will not hold practice in between Games 5 and 6 as they fly back to Pittsburgh.
Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!
- Subscribe to Tip of the Ice-Burgh YouTube Channel
- Follow Inside the Penguins on Twitter: @InsidePenguins