Sidney Crosby will miss at least a month after being placed on injured reserve by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. The team’s captain suffered a lower-body injury during Canada’s Olympic men’s quarterfinal win over Czechia last week.
The Penguins did not reveal any specifics on Crosby’s injury.
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Crosby, who did not play in Canada’s semifinal win over Finland or the gold-medal game loss to the United States, took multiple hits in the second period of the Czechia game. He eventually left the game after being seen shaking his right leg.
After undergoing an MRI, Crosby was not ruled out for the remainder of the tournament and was a game-time decision for Canada’s final two games. He finished the Olympics with two goals and six points in four games.
The 38-year-old Crosby leads the Penguins with 27 goals and 59 points through 56 games. As the NHL resumes play following the Olympic break, Pittsburgh sits second in the Metropolitan Division eight points behind the Carolina Hurricanes. The team has not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2022 and being tied for third-most points in the Eastern Conference at this point in the season has surprised many.
But the playoff race in the East is tight. Only seven points separate the Penguins from the 13th-place Philadelphia Flyers. Losing their captain for a large chunk of the remaining regular-season schedule is not ideal.
The Penguins begin their post-Olympic schedule Thursday at home against the New Jersey Devils. They will play 19 games in 34 nights with seven of those matchups coming against division rivals.
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