Thanks a lot, Jesus; Crosby, Martin injuries suck joy out of everything

By Artistry (follow me on Twitter)

WTF, Jesus. SOME EASTER. And your hands aren't clean either this Passover, Yahweh. Sorry, no offense to anybody. Not blaming anybody except Brooks Orpik - this is no one's fault. It just all feels very fresh right now, very raw. Right as we're basking in the excitement of Jarome Iginla's debut with the Penguins and a potentially record-breaking winning streak, this happens.

What an awful, awful break for Sidney Crosby, who is out indefinitely with a broken jaw. Just sickening, as he had the Hart and Art Ross Trophies, to say nothing of the league itself, by the throat. Can he make it back by the playoffs? No one knows, but Google says the average recovery time for this injury is 6-8 weeks. My mind goes immediately to 1991, when Paul Coffey took a puck to the face in Game 1 of a second round series against the Capitals. He had surgery, missed 10 games, and showed up at less than full capacity in the Stanley Cup Finals, looking like this and not doing much:

Make no mistake, this is a really, really bad development. And Paul Martin missing 6 weeks (including the first round of the playoffs) with a broken wrist may be an even bigger setback for this team. They've got high end forward depth - not so much on the back end. Kris Letang better get healthy.

Sufficiently devastated? OK, the good news after the jump....


Wait.

Sidney Crosby's regular season is over. Paul Martin's regular season is over. So there's good news?

Well, yes. Here is the good news. The Penguins are still one of the top two teams in the East without either player. They can beat anybody. They just pitched three shutouts in a row in the midst of significant roster turnover, untimely injuries, and the Jarome Iginla media circus. They are essentially entrenched as a top seed. If Dan Bylsma chooses, he can leave the Malkin and Sutter lines alone and simply slot Dustin Jeffrey between Kunitz and Dupuis, thus ensuring as little disruption to the forward lines as possible. When Sid does come back, it won't be with a cloud of uncertainty over another concussion.

The onus is on Malkin now, and we don't need to belabor the fact that he's risen to almost unparalleled  heights in Sid's absence before. And if Ray Shero is worried at all about the defense, it may have escaped notice amidst all the hullabaloo, but the trade deadline is still three days away and he has cash in hand. Everything will be OK.

Also, Crankshaft.