Crosby out at least six weeks for Penguins after core muscle repair - NHL.com

Sidney Crosby will be out at least six weeks for the Pittsburgh Penguins after having surgery to repair a core muscle injury Thursday.

That timeline would have the Penguins captain sidelined until Dec. 26, which would keep him out for 18 games.

The center left during the third period of a 3-2 shootout win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday because of a lower-body injury and missed his first game of the season Tuesday, a 3-2 overtime loss at the New York Rangers.

"I don't think the guys are deflated by any stretch," coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. "Obviously, [Crosby] is a critically important player for us. He's not an easy guy to replace with everything that he does and [how he] helps in the way he helps our team, and the contributions he makes. No one person is going to pick up that slack."

The 32-year-old leads the Penguins with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 17 games, but has no points in his past four games.

Crosby had 100 points (35 goals, 65 assists) in 79 games last season, the first time he reached 100 points since having 104 (36 goals, 68 assists) in 2013-14, when he led the NHL in scoring and won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP for a second time. 

Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016 and 2017. He ranks second behind Mario Lemieux for the most goals (451), assists (782) and points (1,233) in Penguins history. He has played the most games for them with 960, 45 more than Lemieux.

His injury is the latest for the Penguins, who also are without defenseman Kris Letang and forward Patric Hornqvist. Letang, who has missed three games, is week to week with a lower-body injury; Hornqvist, who has missed four games, is out longer term with a lower-body injury.

Center Evgeni Malkin, who has six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak, missed 11 games in October with a lower-body injury; and forwards Alex Galchenyuk and Nick Bjugstad each missed nine games because of a lower-body injury. Forward Bryan Rust did not play in the first 11 games because of an upper-body injury. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin missed four games in October because of a lower-body injury.

"We've gone through it before," forward Jake Guentzel said. "Everyone has to step up when you lose a player like [Crosby], if that happens. ... Everyone has to do a bigger part."

The Penguins (10-6-2) are 4-1-2 in their past seven games. They play the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN, MSG+, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV).

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November 14, 2019 at 10:07PM