The long-awaited return of Sidney Crosby commences on Thursday night. The former MVP makes his return at Madison Square Garden as the Pittsburgh Penguins play the New York Rangers.
Crosby has missed a bit more than three months, having not played a game since Dec. 5, with concussion-like symptoms and a neck injury. Coach Dan Bylsma has announced that Crosby will be starting on the third line with wingers Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy.
The Penguins have been one of the hottest teams in the Eastern conference, going 21-4-1 since mid-January.
Also good news is that defenseman Kris Letang will also be in the lineup tonight. Letang has been recovering from his own concussion-like symptoms and has missed the last five games. Letang will be on the same line as defenseman Paul Martin.
They match up with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, as well as the Atlantic Division leaders. The Rangers will be going with goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has a 2.28 goals against average against the Penguins this season. (UPDATE: Lundqvist is out with the flu.)
The two teams have split their games so far this season with Pittsburgh winning the last two.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start with local television coverage on ROOT Sports, with National coverage provided by NHL Network.