Team Canada hasn’t yet ruled out Sidney Crosby from playing in Sunday’s gold medal game against the United States.
Crosby, who suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s quarterfinals win over Czechia, was sidelined Friday as Canada claimed a 3-2 comeback win over Finland to advance to the finals.
“We have 48 hours to decide that,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said when asked after Friday’s win if Crosby would be playing Sunday (h/t the New York Post’s Mollie Walker). “But I will tell you he’s got a better
chance of playing that than he did of playing today.”
Crosby underwent imaging after Wednesday’s injury, which reportedly revealed he had avoided the “worst case scenario,” per The Athletic’s Josh Yohe.
He was still ruled out shortly before the puck dropped for Canada’s Friday matchup. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Team Canada’s attempts to get him back on the ice included “putting together a custom brace.”
Crosby wasn’t visible with Team Canada’s other scratches in the stands during Friday’s win over Finland. He was a presence in the locker room during period breaks, and multiple Canadian players mentioned him as a source of motivation in the win.
Canada will certainly hope to get Crosby back before taking on Team USA for gold. With Crosby no longer present to anchor Canada’s second line, Cooper was leaning heavily on his top line of Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini and Nathan MacKinnon when Canada was trailing late in Friday’s matchup.
For the Penguins, the news that Team Canada thought there was a possibility Crosby could have played Friday— even if it would have required a custom brace— raises hope that whatever injury he suffered against Czechia won’t sideline him long-term after the Games.
Canada will provide another Crosby injury update before puck drops for the gold medal game Sunday at 8 a.m. ET. The Penguins are finally back in action four days later with a Thursday home game against the New Jersey Devils.
