PITTSBURGH (AP) Sidney Crosby set up goals by Marian Hossa and Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins, playing at close to full strength for the first time in weeks, moved into first place in the Eastern Conference by beating the New York Rangers 3-1 on Sunday.Marc-Andre Fleury played another excellent game in net, turning aside 26 shots. The Rangers, missing an opportunity to move into fifth place in the conference, controlled much of the play for the final two periods but couldn’t score in the final 56 minutes.Fleury has won his last seven games.

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Pittsburgh Penguins superstar forward Sidney Crosby returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing the previous seven games while nursing a high ankle sprain.

Crosby originally suffered the injury on January 18th in Pittsburgh’s 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay. After missing the next 21 games, the reigning Art Ross and Hart Trophy recipient came back on March 4 only to play just three games before aggravating the injury.

In 49 games this season, Crosby has notched 22 goals and 45 assists with a plus-18 rating.

The Penguins, with 95 points, currently occupy the second spot in the Eastern Conference, one point behind idle Montreal for the top seed and four points ahead of New Jersey — which is visiting the Rangers on Thursday — for first place in the Atlantic Division.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Sidney Crosby has ruled himself out for Monday night’s game against the New York Islanders after skating with his teammates in the morning.

Crosby took the ice at Nassau Coliseum and stayed out well after the rest of the Penguins went off to the dressing room. He said his sprained right ankle feels better than it has in some time but that he isn’t in game condition yet.

Crosby’s injured ankle has forced him to miss six straight games and 27 of 30.

Although he wasn’t ready to play Monday versus the also-ran Islanders, the Penguins captain wouldn’t say if he would also sit out Tuesday at New Jersey in a key game against the Devils

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is expected to resume skating this week, TSN of Canada reported Wednesday on its web site.

According to the report, the 20-year-old Crosby could return to the ice as early as Thursday but is not expected to play in the Penguins’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning later that night.

Crosby returned to the lineup on March 4 after missing 21 games with a high ankle sprain. But after playing in just three games, he began experiencing soreness and has sat out the Penguins’ last three contests.

The reigning winner of the Hart and Art Ross trophies, Crosby originally suffered the injury in a January 18 game against the Lightning. Full Story…

Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center Sidney Crosby will be sidelined at least one week to recover from a high ankle sprain, the team announced Friday.

The reigning Hart Trophy winner, Crosby already has missed 22 games since suffering the injury January 18 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Penguins (40-24-7) currently have 87 points - one behind the New Jersey Devils (41-24-6) for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh has three games over the next seven days; the Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday before returning home two days later to face the Lightning. Full Story…

A sore right ankle is expected to keep Sidney Crosby from playing in Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain, who missed 21 games with a high ankle sprain, has two goals and two assists in three games since returning. He made the announcement following the team’s morning skate.

“It’s pretty sore,” Crosby told reporters. “It’s going to drag on a bit. We have a few more days before the next game. If I have to give it some time, I guess this is the best time.”

The Penguins entered Wednesday’s game tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with Ottawa. Pittsburgh trailed first-place Montreal by two points. Full Story…

WASHINGTON — Sidney Crosby again got the better of Alex Ovechkin, thanks to a rookie who put the puck into his own net with 28 seconds to play.

Nicklas Backstrom’s attempt to clear the puck went horribly wrong, providing the Pittsburgh Penguins with the winning goal in Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.

In a crowd in front of the crease, Backstrom looked as if he were wearing the wrong-colored jersey when he got his stick on a rebound and backhanded it past goalie Cristobal Huet.

Backstrom, who wasn’t available for comment after the game, was either hoping to push the puck gently to Huet or forcefully clear it to the side of the net.

Either way, he failed, and the goal was credited as an unassisted score for Crosby, who took the original shot. The puck was close to striking Crosby’s skate on the way into the net, but the Penguins star said he thought it went in clean off Backstrom’s stick.

“We’ve been on the other side of that before. Obviously, it’s not fun,” Crosby said. “It’s a big break for us.”

Full Story… 

TAMPA (AFP) — Sidney Crosby made his return to Pittsburgh’s lineup a memorable one assisting on the game winner as the Penguins beat Tampa Bay 2-0 on Tuesday.

Crosby set up Maxime Talbot’s goal late in the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves.

“I felt pretty good,” Pittsburgh’s captain said. “As the game went on, I got a little more tired.

“It’s been a while since I played a game, and obviously I haven’t really gotten a chance to do tons of skating, so it’s good to get it over with and get that feel and get that timing back.

“But it’s still not there. I had some great chances that I would have loved to put in. It didn’t happen. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. I’m a little rusty.”

Evgeni Malkin added an empty-netter for Pittsburgh (38-23-7), which maintained its one-point lead over New Jersey (38-23-6) atop the Eastern Conference.

Returning from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for 21 games, Crosby had several scoring chances before setting up the winning goal.

But after receiving a drop pass from Talbot at the right point, the Canadian superstar carried the puck into the faceoff circle and passed it to the front of the net, where it hit a skate before caroming to Talbot, who deposited it past goaltender Mike Smith with 2:47 remaining to snap a scoreless tie.

Ironically, Crosby suffered the ankle injury in a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay on January 18.

Despite being outshot, the Penguins had the best scoring chance in the first period. With 3:48 remaining, Crosby came down on a breakaway but was denied by Smith.

Smith made another strong save on Crosby seven minutes into the third, but Fleury was just as superb with 8:16 remaining, as he stopped All-Star Vincent Lecavalier’s backhander on a breakaway.

Smith made 21 saves for the Lightning, who fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight.

Penguins rising star Jordan Staal suffered bruised ribs in the first period and did not return.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who has missed the last 21 games with a high ankle sprain, is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday, according to a published report.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Crosby will play Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s been a while, so I’m looking forward to it,” Crosby told the newspaper. “I wasn’t expecting anything. I was skating [in Pittsburgh[ last week and it started to feel better. It’s pretty strong right now. I figure it’s time.”

Penguins coach Michel Therrien indicated the team will take a cautious approach with the center.

“We’ll manage his ice time,” Therrien said. “He said he was feeling great, but he hasn’t played for a long time so he is going to trust me and the way I will manage him on the ice.” Full Story…

Click here to listen to today’s interview featuring Sidney Crosby.  During this interview, Crosby discusses the the acquisition of Marian Hossa and a variety of topics.

Length: 5mins 24 seconds