Sykora out, Satan in for Penguins

This isn't the first time an injury will force Petr Sykora to miss a decisive game in the Stanley Cup final. 

Sykora was knocked unconscious in Game 6 of the 2000 cup final while playing with New Jersey, forcing him to sit out the rest of the game and watch as his team captured the Stanley Cup in double overtime.

Now, a broken foot is keeping the Pittsburgh Penguins' winger out of Friday's Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena against the defending champion Detroit Red Wings (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:30 p.m. ET).

Miroslav Satan will play in Sykora's place. He practiced Thursday in Sykora's spot on the fourth line with Pascal Dupuis and Craig Adams.

Sykora, 32, broke his foot in Game 6 while blocking a shot in Pittsburgh's 2-1 win against the Red Wings, his return to the playoffs after sitting out since May 4 as a healthy scratch.

Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma praised Sykora's grit and said his shot block got the team going in Game 6.

"It shows you what the playoffs are all about," Bylsma said. "This is a guy the team counts on to score goals and put it in the net. He gets his chance to get in there for Game 6, and what he does is block a shot and get the puck out from his knees.

"He went in there to score, but he went in there to battle and lay it on the line. He goes down and blocks a shot. We got a chuckle about the fact that he blocked a shot, but that was a huge lift to our team."

Sykora didn't miss a shift after the block.

Though he's been productive over two seasons in Pittsburgh, posting 53 goals and 56 assists, Sykora was struggling late in the season and into the playoffs.

He scored twice in his last 17 regular-season games and posted just one assist in six playoff games before he was benched in favour of Satan.

Satan has one goal and five assists in 16 playoff games for the Penguins.