Sidney Crosby cannot seem to avoid taking shots to the head and an inadvertent blow to the head will eliminate him from Game 4 against the Washington Capitals. Coach Mike Sullivan told the media on Tuesday after his star was evaluated.An extensive concussion history is now something that must be paid attention to as the postseason continues onward. Even more pressing is the fact that these issues could plague him either further going forward in his life outside the sport.Crosby is listed as day-to-day going forward and he missed the first six games of the season with the same injury. The Penguins lost Game 3 3-2 in a heartbreaker that went down to an overtime period.Matt Niskanen is a former teammate of Sid the Kid and his cross-check was the incident that sent the superstar to the trainer’s table. Luckily for he and the Pittsburgh fans, he landed awkwardly on his leg and there was no larger damage from the fall.The Steel City is holding on to a 2-1 lead after losing their leader and could see him come back before the series is over. The defenseman that broke him down was hit with a game misconduct penalty for the hit on Crosby.Back in 2011, Sid sustained a concussion that took him out of the game for nearly two years and that was around the time that the team’s alarm bells began to sound. This was a problem that would have to be closely monitored going forward with their superstar.Since that year he missed a whole six games with reported concussions, but those are only the ailments reported to the team. He has missed a staggering 114 games throughout his career with a concussion or concussion-like symptoms.

They have fared surprisingly well in the regular season without Crosby in the lineup as they have gone 97-52-19 (.634) in games that he has not appeared in. That number is better than the 439-261-82 (.614) with him as the team finds ways to win without their best player.

Unfortunately, they are .500 in the postseason when the superstar doesn’t lace up his skates. They will have to find a way to make do without him against a team desperate to get a win and keep this series alive.

Alex Ovechkin is Crosby’s biggest rival and this might be the best chance he gets to pass his contemporary. Sad to see it possibly come down to injury.