
Penguins captain announces he is "good to go" after missing Pittsburgh's final two games before the 4 Nations break
All of Canada can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby - named Team Canada's captain for the 4 Nations Face-off - announced he is "good to go" for Canada's opening matchup against Sweden on Wednesday.
Crosby - who missed Pittsburgh's last two games before the 4 Nations break - has been dealing with an upper-body injury sustained during Pittsburgh's 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey on Feb. 4. His status was in question heading into the tournament, but he traveled to Montreal and practiced with Team Canada Monday morning.
"I was busy," Crosby said. "Just trying to see where I was at, and get treatment, and talk to everybody. So, yeah, it was a busy week, but happy to be here, and just excited to get going."
At Canada's first team practice in Montreal on Monday, Crosby practiced on a five-on-five line with Mark Stone and fellow Nova Scotian - and good friend - Nathan MacKinnon. They were on a second line together, as Sam Reinhart, Connor McDavid, and Mitch Marner made up the first line.
Here were the full five-on-five lines at practice.
Crosby also worked on the first power play unit alongside McDavid, MacKinnon, Reinhart, and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar:
After practice concluded, Crosby and MacKinnon took some additional reps together, mainly to work on some things with the power play. This marks just the second time the pair will take the ice together during international play, with the first being at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.
The 4 Nations Face-off kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET, when Canada and Sweden square off in Montreal. Crosby will represent Team Canada, while Penguins teammates Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson - an assistant captain - will don the "three crowns" for Sweden.
Round robin play and points totals - three points for regulation wins, two points for overtime wins, and one point for overtime losses - will dictate which two teams out of Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Team USA will compete for the championship on Feb. 20.
