Sidney Crosby is being evaluated for an upper-body injury, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced Wednesday.
Crosby left Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils after colliding with Erik Haula and Luke Hughes in the third period.
The Penguins captain skated off holding his left arm and went to the dressing room, but returned about 10 minutes later.
“I just got tangled up,” Crosby told reporters after the game.
Crosby wasn’t at Wednesday’s practice. The Penguins play their next game Friday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The team is already missing Evgeni Malkin, who’s week-to-week with a lower-body injury and has missed four games.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Sullivan said about potentially missing both stars. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Obviously Sid is an important guy for us, he’s a tough guy to replace. I’m stating the obvious there.”
Crosby leads the Penguins with 58 points in 55 games this season and ranks third on the team with 17 goals. He was named Team Canada’s captain for next week’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Penguins sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 22-24-9 record, seven points out of a wild-card spot. They have two games left before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
