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Sidney Crosby has not been out of the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup since Game 6 of Round 1 in 2022 — but that will change for the captain on Friday night. Despite skating earlier in the day, Crosby will not be available against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed.
“Right now, we are just taking it one day at a time,” Sullivan said on Friday, per NHL.com's Wes Crosby. “He's not going to play tonight. Obviously he's on the ice participating in the morning skate which is encouraging from our standpoint. We're taking each day as it comes. Obviously he's an important player for us and so when he's not in our lineup, he's a hard guy to replace. He's the heartbeat of this team.”
Crosby sustained an upper-body injury in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. He collided with two Devils players midway through the third period and, although he was favoring his left arm, he took part in the shootout.
Crosby said after Tuesday's loss that he “just got tangled up,” although the ailment is certainly a cause for concern with the 4 Nations Face-Off now less than a week away. The 37-year-old will captain Team Canada — if he's healthy enough to play.
“Sid's health first and foremost is always our priority,” Sullivan said, per Wes Crosby. “Obviously that tournament means an awful lot to Sid for obvious reasons. And as his coach and someone that cares about him, I certainly want what's best for him, but also I'm hopeful that he has the opportunity to participate because it means so much to him.”
Crosby is leading the Penguins with 58 points through 55 games. He's riding a five-game point streak after recording an assist against New Jersey on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh will play on Sunday against the Flyers in Philadelphia before the 13-day break, and it seems likely that Crosby will miss that game as well.
Penguins are doomed without Sidney Crosby
It goes without saying that the Penguins badly need Crosby in the lineup to have success. Even with one of the league's premier players in the fold, Pittsburgh is 22-24-9 and seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.
Sitting a full eight points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference — and with only 27 games left — it's looking like it will be back-to-back-to-back missed postseasons for the first time in Crosby's career.
“Obviously when you have players of that stature out of the lineup, those guys are hard to replace,” Sullivan said. “I'm stating the obviously when I say that but I think the guys that are in the lineup, I think they recognize what type of effort and what type of purpose we need to have tonight in order to have success. We're not going to replace those guys. It's impossible.”
Now in his 20th NHL season, Crosby's durability throughout his career has been truly impressive. The 4 Nations won't be the same if the three-time Stanley Cup champion is unable to participate.
