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Penguins captain Sidney Crosby out Saturday vs. Maple Leafs
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby. Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby out Saturday vs. Maple Leafs

Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-2) will have to continue waiting for the 2021-22 regular-season debut of superstar captain Sidney Crosby. 

According to the league's official website, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Thursday that Crosby will remain unavailable through at least Saturday's home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-1). 

Crosby underwent successful surgery on his left wrist back on Sept. 8 and hasn't yet taken the ice for a contest this fall. It was always expected the 34-year-old would miss at least Pittsburgh's first four matchups of the campaign, and The Athletic's Rob Rossi had predicted Pittsburgh would also keep Crosby for Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Pittsburgh is already without star goal-scorer Evgeni Malkin, who is on track to miss at least the first two months of the season while recovering from knee surgery he had in June. 

Additionally, Sullivan told reporters forward Jeff Carter tested positive for COVID-19, while starting goaltender Tristan Jarry is in the coronavirus-related protocol. 

Per ESPN stats, Carter is tied for the team lead with four points (one goal, three assists). Jarry has gone 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in his three starts. 

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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