Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is being evaluated for an upper-body injury, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed on Wednesday, as reported by NHL.com’s Wes Crosby.
Sullivan did not provide further details about the injury. The Penguins are set to play the New York Rangers on Friday at Madison Square Garden.
Crosby sustained the injury during Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils, after colliding with forward Erik Haula and defenseman Luke Hughes in the third period. Crosby skated off the ice holding his left arm and went to the locker room, but returned to the game about 10 minutes later.
Postgame, Crosby explained that he “just got tangled up,” though he did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.
The Penguins have also been without veteran forward Evgeni Malkin for the last four games due to a lower-body injury, with Malkin being considered week-to-week.
When asked about the possibility of playing without both Crosby and Malkin, Sullivan responded, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Obviously, Sid is an important guy for us, and he’s tough to replace.”
Crosby leads the Penguins with 58 points in 55 games and ranks third on the team with 17 goals. He was also recently named captain of Team Canada for next week’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
As of Wednesday, the Penguins were in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division with a 22-24-9 record, seven points behind a wild-card spot. The team has two games remaining before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
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