Banner night: Penguins raise Stanley Cup banner
PITTSBURGH (AP) The rafters are a little more crowded at recently renamed PPG Arena.
The Pittsburgh Penguins raised their fourth Stanley Cup championship banner to the ceiling before the season opener against Washington on Thursday night. Pittsburgh beat the San Jose Sharks in six games in June for the title.
The team finished off an elegant pregame ceremony by having team captain and Conn Smythe winner Sidney Crosby skate to center ice with the Cup held aloft. Crosby, who is out indefinitely with a concussion, dressed in his familiar No. 87 jersey for the occasion while the crowd roared.
Crosby then placed Cup on a stand at center ice and stood along the blue line with the rest of his teammates as the banner joined the tributes to the 1991, 1992 and 2009 Cup winners.
The party didn't last too long. Washington's Andre Burakovsky scored 59 seconds into the game.
