Pittsburgh Penguins get first win in new arena
Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins began a new chapter for the franchise on Wednesday, playing the first hockey game in their new arena the Consol Energy Center. The Penguins were
able to christen the new $321-million arena with a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in a pre-season game in front of a sellout crowd of 18,087.
"The atmosphere was great," Crosby said. "I think all the guys were really excited about being in this game and playing the first one here. It's pretty easy to tell guys came here tonight
ready to compete and do a lot of good things."
Crosby scored a goal an added an assist in the win, but got a bit of a scare with a hip flexor injury and as a result, sat out the third period. Early reports indicate that the injury
is not serious.
"No, not at all," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Just sore and precautionary, and no need to push it past that."
Crosby will likely sit out the Penguins next pre-season game on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets as a precaution.
"I think I just might have tweaked it a bit," Crosby said. "That's nothing new this time of year for me. It usually takes a couple weeks to get comfortable and feel good. It's nothing
that I'm too worried about."
Detroit forward Johan Franzen also had to leave the game late in the first period after an apparent leg injury. He was hit by Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik who received a major penalty
on the play for kneeing. There is cause for concern, as Franzen has had a problem with knee injuries in the past and missed 55 games last season to a knee injury.
"We think more of his thigh, but we'll get him checked out," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "We hope he'd going to be fine."
Babcock also commented on the Penguins new arena.
"It looks like a beautiful building, and I imagine it's state of the art," Babcock said. "Every new building in the league seems to outdo the one previous to it."
Penguins forward Mike Comrie got things started for the home team becoming the first player to score in the new building. Comrie scored just 1:21 into the first period. Aside from Comrie
and Crosby, the Penguins also got goals from Brett Sterling and Ryan Craig who had two goals in the win. Ruslan Salei scored the lone goal for the Red Wings.
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