Sidney Crosby Injured Again, Leaves Penguins Game After 1st Period

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby leaves the ice

He'd only been back for five games, but Pittsburgh Penguins legend Sidney Crosby is back on the shelf, it appears.

Crosby suffered an injury late in the first period of their game Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators. According to Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now, Crosby left the Penguins bench with three minutes to go in the first, but didn't appear to be limping or laboring in any way. He will not return to the game.

Forward Sidney Crosby will not return to tonight’s game versus Ottawa.
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) March 27, 2026

"It appeared he tangled with an Ottawa defender, suffering a lower-body injury," wrote Kingerski. This was Crosby's last shift:

Sidney Crosby has gone to the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/DmIKfIXcZN
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 27, 2026

Again, nothing appears amiss as he heads off the ice, but anytime Crosby leaves a game and heads to the locker room, it's "certainly concerning" as noted on the broadcast.

The Penguins' captain missed 11 games after the Olympic Break, after suffering a Grade 2 MCL sprain during the Milan Games, courtesy of... who else?... Radko Gudas. The injury came in Canada's quarterfinal win against Czechia. Crosby missed the semifinal and the Gold Medal Final. He returned to the ice for the Penguins on March 18th.

DK Pittsburgh Sports notes that it looked like his left leg got tangled up with a Senators player along the boards. The MCL injury was in his right knee, so this would seem not to be related.

Pittsburgh went a strong 5-3-3 in his most recent absence, maintaining its tenuous hold on a playoff spot in the tight Eastern Conference standings.

Going into play Thursday night, the Pens held a slim one-point edge over the NY Islanders for third place in the Metro Division, a seeding which would guarantee a playoff spot. The Senators, who held the second Wild Card coming into this critical matchup, trailed the Penguins by one point.

Crosby, the future Hall of Famer, has 28 goals and 64 points in 60 games with the Penguins this season.