Survival of the Flightless

So imagine you're a Penguins fan for a second (ok, first imagine you're a hockey fan). You just found out that Sidney Crosby, the best player in all of hockey, is lost for roughly two months. I know I know, fight back the tears and hear me out. Here's the plan for these Penguins to make it through the rough patch of the season down one superstar.

1. Evgeni Malkin needs to step up. Everyone knows it by now. Malkin, 2nd overall pick back in 2004 (behind only the $124,000,000 man), has played great hockey behind Sidney Crosby for the last year and a half. Now it's time to see if he can elevate his game to be the star center on the team while Sid The Kid takes his leave. If he can, the Pens won't miss Crosby as much as you'd think.

2. Defense Defense Defense. The Pens defense and goaltending, thanks in part to journeyman Ty Conklin, has been outstanding of late, allowing no more than 1 or 2 goals a game. This needs to continue if Sidney is gone, which it likely will. Sid's a fine defender when he's down there, but has little impact on the defensive aspect of the game as it is. The Pens will likely experience a bit of an offensive drop-off with the best scorer out, but if the D can hold, they'll just settle for winning games 2-1.

3. Key Injury Returns. Despite a Crosby-esque scare against the Canadians, Colby Armstrong coming back from injury will be a nice boost to the Pens as a team. Add in the return of Marc-Andre Fleury in a few weeks time, and the recent comeback of Maxime Talbot, the Pens should be able to survive this key injury with these non-injured players back in the line-up.

Crosby will return with roughly a month before the play-offs begin. This is enough time for him to give the Pens a late surge if they can stay competitive in his absence. Follow these steps, and I can assure you, these birds will fly into the postseason.

With Crosby, of course.