Penguins star Sidney Crosby evaluated for upper-body injury

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby missed practice and was being evaluated for an upper-body injury on Wednesday, one day after he was hurt during a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils that ended in a shootout.

Crosby appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder when he was hit by two Devils -- Luke Hughes and Erik Haula -- in the third period.

Crosby didn't appear overly concerned after Tuesday's game and said, "I just got tangled up."

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan didn't share additional information about Crosby's injury. But he did say that the club would use a next-man-up mentality.

"We're going to put the best group on the ice that we have available to us," Sullivan said Wednesday. "(For) the guys that are in the lineup each and every night, it provides a great opportunity to help the Penguins have success, and that's the way we look at it."

Pittsburgh (22-24-9, 53 points) can't afford to miss Crosby long, as it sits near the bottom of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. The Penguins are 5-8-4 over their past 17 games.

Pittsburgh visits the New York Rangers on Friday and Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Crosby is slated to be a captain for Team Canada in the tourney.

Crosby, 37, has 17 goals and 41 assists in 55 games this season. He is in his 20th season with the Penguins and has 609 career goals and ranks ninth all-time with 1,654 points.

--Field Level Media