Crosby isn't griping

Sidney Crosby didn’t think it would take this long to get into an exhibition game.

He certainly didn’t want it to work out that way.

But now that he’s scheduled to make his preseason debut when the Penguins face Detroit tonight at 7:38 at Joe Louis Arena, he isn’t going to fret about what has happened.

“Ideally, you’d get at least a couple [of games], but that’s the scenario, so I’m not going to complain,” he said after the Penguins’ game-day skate. “That’s the way it is. I’m going to try to make the most of this game and get ready for the season.”

Crosby missed the first three exhibition games because of an undisclosed injury and the past two because of his grandmother’s death.

Crosby is penciled in between Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist on the Penguins’ No. 1 line tonight.

Coach Mike Johnston had entered training camp intending to use Hornqvist with center Evgeni Malkin, but Malkin has not been on the ice during the preseason because of an undisclosed injury.

He noted today that the Penguins’ games this month have been tight-checking and low-scoring – they have just one goal in two away games – and suggested that Crosby could be a difference-maker in such contests.

“Having him in … gives us that punch up front that we need,” Johnston said. “Having a player like that who can break free, who can make that special play, is important.”