Health 1st for Crosby and Sheary

WASHINGTON — When Mike Sullivan made the final decision to reinsert Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary into the Penguins’ lineup Saturday night, he was insistent that the only factor going into his decision was the advice he received from the team doctors.

The fact that it’s the postseason did not make the two more likely to return, and the Penguins’ 3-1 series lead did not give Sullivan a moment’s pause to potentially rest them for the next round.

“I think that we trust our doctors and the process that they go through and when they tell us that these guys are healthy and are cleared to play, that’s all we need to know,” Sullivan said. “As I said from the start, the health and safety of our players is always the priority and that will never change.”

While it is a quick recovery for both players to potentially come back after missing just one game, Sullivan said he wasn’t necessarily surprised with the speed of their recovery.

“I don’t think so, just because I was around them after the fact,” Sullivan said. “My experience of watching players go through it over the years. They’re all unique in their own way. Some recover quicker than others.

“I don’t claim to know a whole lot about it, and that’s why we refer to the people that do. These guys that are monitoring our guys have expertise in the field, they’re great doctors and we trust them. They advise us that the right way with these guy, and so we trust these guys. We’ll listen to what they say.” said. “It was pretty crazy.”

Also pretty informative about how almost no lead is safe, particularly during the playoffs.

“You let go for a minute and the other team can start pushing,” he said. “The momentum in games swings so much.

“You have to be ready to go the whole time. It doesn’t matter what the score is, you have to keep playing the same way.”