There’s no good time to get injured, but for the Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, the timing couldn’t be worse. The upper-body injury he sustained during the Penguins vs. New Jersey Devils has sidelined Crosby. Now, with the looming 4 Nations Face-Off, the 37-year-old’s participation remains uncertain.

And while there’s some good news about Crosby, the bad news overshadows it. Senior Sportsnet analyst Eric Francis reported that fellow national teammate Nathan MacKinnon reached out to Crosby for an update. “I think he’s doing fine,” said the Colorado Avalanche player. However, it’s “Definitely scary,” added MacKinnon.

Sidney Crosby couldn’t train, and coach Mike Sullivan announced that he wouldn’t play against the Rangers. However, what’s even more worrying is the national team captain’s participation in the 4 Nations Face-Off. “I’d imagine. I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but he’s a very, very tough individual. Hopefully everything is alright,” MacKinnon speculated.

However, despite the uncertainty, Crosby isn’t one to stay down for too long. “Right now we are just taking it one day at a time,” Sullivan said about the Penguins center, but Crosby has been making efforts to return to practice. “He’s participating in the morning skate, which is encouraging from our standpoint,” Coach Sullivan said ahead of the game with the Rangers.

Participating in the optional Friday morning skates was a positive sign for Sidney Crosby’s prospects of being part of Team Canada’s lineup for the 4 Nations Face-Off on February 12. However, with roughly four days left and no concrete timeline for the Penguins star’s recovery, all anyone can do is speculate. Thankfully, the final scoreline of the Penguins vs. Rangers match must have been a morale booster for the injured player.

The Penguins beat the odds despite Sidney Crosby’s absence

The absence of a key playmaker like Crosby became a serious concern for Pittsburgh After all, the stats don’t lie, and in the last ten clashes between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, the latter has come out on top more often. In fact, the numbers are skewed heavily toward New York, with the Rangers winning six of their last ten encounters.

This was also the first time the NHL star had missed a regular season game in over two years. “This marks the first time Sidney Crosby has missed a game since 2022 when a Jacob Trouba hit kept him out of Game 6 against the Rangers,” highlighted Penguins beat writer John Yohe. Coach Sullivan also elaborated on Crosby’s absence.

“When he’s not in our lineup, he’s a hard guy to replace. He’s the heartbeat of this team,” the coach said about the star player. However, despite missing Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the team pulled off an impressive win away from home. After falling behind in the first period, the Penguins scored three goals in the second period and won the match 3-2.

However, it wouldn’t have been possible without Alex Nedeljkovic‘s excellent goaltending. The Penguins’ goalie held off the Rangers to just two goals, saving 22 of the 24 shots on target. “It was just a collective effort…” Nedeljkovic later told the media. Now the focus will shift to getting Sidney Crosby ready for national team duties.