After missing four weeks with a lower-body injury, Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby will officially make his return to the lineup Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
After four weeks of anticipation, Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby will be back in action right on schedule.
On Wednesday, the Penguins announced that Crosby - injured exactly four weeks ago to the day in Team Canada's quarterfinal game against Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina - will make his return to the lineup against the Carolina Hurricanes. The 38-year-old star forward sustained a lower-body injury - later revealed to be a grade-two MCL sprain - when Czech defenseman Radko Gudas hit Crosby mid-ice, and he fell to the ice awkwardly.
The original timeline set for Crosby was four weeks, so his return is on schedule right to the date.
Crosby, who is in the midst of his 21st NHL season, still leads the team in goals (27) and points (59) despite missing 11 games to the lower-body injury. Since the Olympic break and in Crosby's absence, the Penguins managed to go 5-3-3, collecting 13 of 22 possible points. They also played five of those games without Evgeni Malkin, who is the only other player on the Penguins' roster above point-per-game (50 points in 47 games played).
The Penguins currently sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 83 points and trail the division-leading Hurricanes by seven. They play two more games against them this season - and have 15 games remaining in the regular season - so they can close the points gap with a regulation win Wednesday.
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