Crosby being evaluated for upper-body injury

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury, according to coach Mike Sullivan.

Crosby did not participate in practice Wednesday in Cranberry. Sullivan announced Crosby’s status after the session.

The precise nature of the injury was not specified, but Sullivan labeled it as “upper body.” Crosby appeared to injure his left arm during a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

At approximately 3 minutes, 58 seconds of the third period, Crosby was caught up in between Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and forward Erik Haula. After the three-way collision, Crosby skated with urgency to his bench and retreated to the dressing room while favoring his left arm.

He missed several shifts before returning to the ice at 11:32 of the same period.

Crosby displayed little, if any, impairment from the ailment for the remainder of the contest. Upon his return, he took five faceoffs and won four, recorded one shot in overtime and was denied by goaltender Nico Daws in the shootout attempt.

After the game, Crosby offered little detail as to the mishap.

“I just got tangled up,” he said. The Penguins’ next game is Friday at the New York Rangers. Sullivan was hesitant to delve into potentially playing any games without Crosby, preferring to wait until the evaluation.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Sullivan said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sid’s an important guy for us. He’s a tough guy to replace. I’m stating the obvious there.”

The Penguins did not engage in any kind of line rushes or special teams drills during Wednesday’s practice, so there was little to suggest how the team might reconfigure its lines or power-play groups were Crosby to miss any games.

Crosby leads the team in scoring with 58 points (17 goals, 41 assists) in 55 games this season while averaging 20:21 of ice time per contest.

Additionally, he has the team’s longest active consecutive games played streak at 229.

Crosby’s convalescence comes while the team’s other superstar center, Evgeni Malkin, is recuperating from an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him for the past four games. His status has been labeled as “week-toweek.”

Currently designated to injured reserve, Malkin worked out on the ice before Wednesday’s practice session. Sullivan indicated Malkin remains status quo.

“We’re going to put the best group on the ice that we have available to us,” Sullivan said. “The guys that are in the lineup each and every night, it provides a great opportunity to help the Penguins have success. That’s the way we look at it. It’s a nextman-up mindset. Regardless of what our injury situation looks like, that’s always the approach we’ve taken. Players embrace that challenge.”

Any potential absence by Crosby would have a considerable impact on the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament that begins next week. Selected to serve as captain of Canada’s team, Crosby is expected to be one of the focuses of that event that largely will serve as a promotional or marketing device for the NHL and NHLPA.

Note: Forward Jesse Puljujarvi was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton of the American Hockey League. After being recalled to the NHL roster Jan. 27, he was a healthy scratch for three of four games.