Been here before.

It's not exactly news that Sidney Crosby was cleared for contact, as it was announced today. He had been on the ice for a little while now with no contact and since we have been down this road before, we knew it was a step that was coming.

Just as the last time, there is no timetable for a return to game action for Crosby and there is no real use in speculating either. He will return when he returns and the Pens have been playing pretty well without him, so the Pens are not in absolute dire need of him returning, which is a good thing for the team and Crosby.
The Pens won their sixth straight last night against the Coyotes and though it wasn't our best played game, Fleury was strong in net and the Pens managed a 2-1 win.

It's good to hear Crosby has been cleared for contact as it is the next step in his all-too familiar recovery and we know that somewhere down the road, whether it be long or short, he will return to the lineup. And we will all hope that he stays healthy and gets back to his form in which he left the game, but that will most likely take some time, or maybe it won't... who knows.

The great thing in all of this is that Crosby will not feel the pressure to return to a team that is falling as the Pens have been strong as of late and are holding on to the top half of the Eastern Conference standings. That also means that we have a very strong team without Crosby in the lineup and with Crosby back, there will be some shake-ups on some things, but we will have arguably the best player back. Seems like a win-win to me, so let's keep this winning streak going and we'll have to wait and see when Crosby comes back. We can be patient though and that is one great thing.