CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Sidney Crosby did not play in the Penguins' scrimmage on Thursday night, but he did skate on his own in the morning for the second day in a row.
Mike Sullivan only said that Crosby was "unfit to participate" in the scrimmage, which is the term being used around the NHL to describe all injuries and illnesses because teams are prohibited from disclosing any information on such absences.
We've seen some unexpected players become standouts through these scrimmages so far, like Sam Lafferty and Evan Rodrigues.
Thursday's scrimmage, which ended in a 3-3 tie, was the first game action for any of the Black Ace players during this training camp. Those extra players all seemed to have an extra jump in their step Thursday night, but the one who stood out the most was Adam Johnson, playing on Team Gold's third line alongside Lafferty and Anthony Angello.
Johnson's biggest asset is his speed, and that was on full display in the scrimmage as he used that speed to create some separation and give himself space to make plays.
Johnson got on the board early in first period when he flew up the left side of the ice and set up Angello, who scored to tie the game:
Johnson created a great scoring chance of his own in the middle frame, but hit iron:
He nearly had another assist in the third after he picked up the loose puck after a Lafferty chance, and set up Angello from behind the net:
Sullivan said that it was unfortunate that when the Penguins had openings at forward due to injuries during the year, Johnson was sometimes injured himself, and was limited to just seven NHL games this year. He wasn't able to come up and use his speed as often as they would have liked.
"We really like Johnny's game," Sullivan said. "His skating ability is so evident when he's with us. ... We think he's an NHL-caliber player, and a big reason why was because of his pace. He's a good penalty-killer, he's a great puck-pursuit guy, he's good on the forecheck, and he's got a little scoring touch. I thought he had a strong game tonight."
Given the Penguins' forward depth this summer, it would seem like a couple of players would be unable to play before Johnson gets into the lineup. But a strong camp like this bodes well for his chances at more NHL time next season.
MORE FROM THE SCRIMMAGE
• This was the lineup for Team Gold:
Jake Guentzel -- Evan Rodrigues - Conor Sheary
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Adam Johnson -- Sam Lafferty -- Anthony Angello
Marcus Pettersson -- Marino
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Kevin Czuczman
Tristan Jarry
Emil Larmi
This was the lineup for Team Black:
Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Patrick Marleau -- Jared McCann -- Patric Hornqvist
Samuel Poulin -- Philip Varone -- Sam Miletic
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
Pierre-Olivier Joseph
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
• The scrimmage ended in a 3-3 tie. Team Black's goals came from Jason Zucker, Patrick Marleau and Jared McCann, and Gold's goals came from Angello, Conor Sheary, and Teddy Blueger.
• This was the best pace we've seen in a scrimmage throughout camp. Part of that was because officials Ty Hennes and Mark Recchi kept their whistles put away, but there were also just significantly less turnovers and guys were just flying. The energy from the Black Aces probably contributed there as well.
• I thought Samuel Poulin had a really good game on both sides of the puck. His skating isn't an issue either.
• Earlier in the day Casey DeSmith told reporters that his missing passport that prevented him from getting called up in January was found in a pants pocket at his house. He has a passport holder now, so that shouldn't be an issue moving forward.
• DeSmith also said that he and Emil Larmi have been "scheming" about what to bring into the bubble to keep themselves occupied in the hotel, and they're talking about bringing mini discs to somehow play disc golf in the hotel. DeSmith is an avid disc golf player, and rounded up the Finnish prospects -- Larmi, Niclas Almari, and sometimes Kasper Bjorkqvist -- to play disc golf with him on a regular basis in Wilkes-Barre this year.
• The full scrimmage can be seen here:
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