Penguins captain Sidney Crosby out at least 4 weeks after Olympics injury

King Jemison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Feb 25, 2026

Published in Hockey

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PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby is expected to miss at least four weeks with the lower-body injury he suffered while playing for Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Penguins announced Wednesday.

Crosby left Canada’s quarterfinal matchup after a series of hard hits, including a collision with Czechia’s Radko Gudas that caused Crosby’s right leg to awkwardly buckle. He missed the final two games of the tournament.

Crosby said he was “a lot closer than I thought” to playing Sunday’s gold medal game, which the U.S. won in overtime.

“A day or two after, I didn’t think it was necessarily going to be an option,” he said Wednesday in Cranberry, Pa.

But he wasn’t able to suit up. And now the Penguins will be without their captain for most, if not all, of their challenging March schedule. Pittsburgh will play 15 games in the next four weeks, including several matchups against top teams in the league.

Crosby’s injury is a huge blow to a Penguins team that has soared past expectations this season. He leads the team in goals and assists while playing all 56 games.

The Penguins are in second place in the Metropolitan Division and have a five-point cushion on a playoff spot as NHL play resumes Wednesday night after the Olympic break. Pittsburgh’s packed stretch run begins against New Jersey on Thursday.

Crosby said he’s “confident” about his team’s chances without him.

“We’ve shown all year we’ve had injuries and guys have stepped up,” he said. “To get to where we are at this point, it’s because of our team play. I don’t think it’s been because of any one person.”

The Penguins appear set to roll out Egor Chinakhov, Tommy Novak and Evgeni Malkin as their top line in Crosby’s absence. Recent American Hockey League call-up Avery Hayes took Crosby’s place on a line with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust in practice, with Rakell centering the trio.

Fresh off an Olympic appearance with Sweden, Rakell echoed his captain’s confidence in their ability to withstand the injury.

“I feel like we had a different kind of team game this year than we have had in the past,” he said. “So I feel like everybody’s up for the task to step up their games.”

Crosby is likely set for his longest absence since missing 28 games with a core muscle injury in 2019-20.

Across his 21-season NHL career, Crosby has missed 215 regular-season games, almost half of which came as a result of the lingering concussion he suffered in January 2011. Remarkably, he’s played roughly 87% of the Penguins’ regular-season games since he entered the league.

Crosby hadn’t heard from Gudas since the hit but wasn’t upset about it.

“I didn’t have a problem with the play,” he said. “He was trying to be physical and step up. Play hard as any defenseman would. It went the wrong way as far as my end of it. I don’t think he should feel the need to reach out or anything like that. It’s hockey, and that stuff happens.”

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