Niskanen was immediately ejected, but the NHL decided against further discipline. While he returns to the series, it’s unclear if Crosby will, drastically shifting the Eastern Conference semifinal in which the Penguins have a two-games-to-one lead.

“He will go through the protocols that we always put our guys through when they’ve been diagnosed with a concussion,” Sullivan said. “The nature of these things is that they are all very different. Sometimes they come around quickly, other times they don’t. My experience of dealing with these in the past with players is that they are day-to-day things, and so we’ll rely on our medical staff to advise us in the right way and our guys do a great job in that regard.”

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The play that concussed Crosby started with Alex Ovechkin’s stick making contact with Crosby’s back and head as he drove to the net, just 5:24 into the first period. The hit appeared to knock Crosby off balance before Niskanen barreled into the Penguins star, stick first. Crosby remained face down on the ice until a trainer came to his aid, eventually departing through the tunnel and to the locker room.

The injury sent shock waves through the hockey world, particularly because Crosby has a long history of concussions. In the 2011 Winter Classic, then-Capitals center David Steckel delivered a blindside hit to Crosby’s head. Four days later, Crosby was driven into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. It was later reported that Crosby suffered a concussion, and he missed 68 games over 10 months as symptoms lingered.

Crosby also suffered a concussion in a practice during Penguins training camp, missing the first six games of the 2016-17 regular season.

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“I hope he’s okay. I certainly didn’t mean to injure him,” Niskanen said after Game 3. “It’s an unfortunate play that happened really quick.”

Before the hit Monday, Crosby had two goals and two assists in Games 1 and 2. That came after notching two goals and five assists in a first-round series win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the 29-year-old also led the Penguins with 89 points (a league-leading 44 goals and 45 assists) in the regular season. Before Game 3, he was named one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the NHL’s most valuable player.

That is why Crosby’s absence can completely alter the course of a series many believed would be won by Pittsburgh after the Penguins claimed the first two games. Crosby is one of the best players in the world, elevates whoever Sullivan puts on his flanks and was beating the Capitals in all kinds of ways to start this series: Scoring twice in 52 seconds in Game 1, weaving through three defensemen to set up a Phil Kessel goal in Game 2, then blocking a shot to spring a Jake Guentzel breakaway goal later in that contest.

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This team has a lot of experience compensating for injury, as the Penguins were already without top defenseman Kris Letang and No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray in this series. The list of Penguins who have avoided injury to this point in the season is short, but they still finished with the NHL’s second-best record despite 282 man-games lost.

“We’ve been through this all year with injuries,” Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist said before Sullivan announced Crosby’s concussion Tuesday. “Obviously if Sid is not playing tomorrow it’s a loss for us, but we need other guys to step up and we’ve been doing that all year.”

But because Crosby is at the center of this, both teams enter Game 4 with a cloud over the series.

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Some local and national media have perpetuated conspiracy theories implying the Capitals planned to hurt Crosby when they had a players-only meeting after their Game 2 loss in Washington. “I hear the noise,” Capitals Coach Barry Trotz said. “I think it’s ridiculous, but we’re just going to look forward to next game.”

Physical play isn’t anything new in this rivalry. In last season’s second-round series between Washington and Pittsburgh, two players – Washington’s Brooks Orpik and Letang – were suspended for illegal hits. But with no league discipline coming for Niskanen, it’s possible Wednesday’s game could take on a violent tone if the Penguins choose to defend their injured captain on the ice.

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“I’m not going to comment on anything,” Pittsburgh forward Carl Hagelin said Tuesday. “But it looked like a dirty hit to me.”

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The Capitals also took exception to some unpenalized plays by the Penguins in Game 3, particularly a collision between Washington’s T.J. Oshie and Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz away from the puck. In a heated exchange after the game with a reporter who questioned Ovechkin’s actions in Crosby getting hurt, Trotz shot back, “You want me to defend Alex? Then is Kunitz’s predatory hit on Oshie okay? Or the one on [Nicklas] Backstrom, is that okay?”

There could be more of the same in Game 4, which will not include Crosby but carry the weight of his absence.

“It should be nasty,” Capitals forward Jay Beagle said. “It’s the playoffs. That’s the way we like to play. That’s the way they like to play – you know, hard hits, going after each other. These are two teams that don’t like each other.”

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