Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby. Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Penguins star Sidney Crosby skates with top line in practice Wednesday

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Oct 27, 2021 1:43 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Penguins were destined to suffer a first regulation defeat of the 2021-22 NHL season eventually. Such a loss came Tuesday when the Tampa Bay Lightning rode into town and thrashed the Pens 5-1 as Pittsburgh superstar Sidney Crosby remained sidelined due to the wrist surgery he underwent on Sept. 8.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday that Crosby was "a whole lot closer" to making his season debut, and Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Crosby skated on the top line during practice on Wednesday afternoon. Crosby was also spotted on the team’s top power play unit.

#Pens lines:
Guentzel--Crosby--Rodrigues
Zucker--O'Connor--Kapanen
Aston-Reese--Blueger--McGinn
Heinen--Boyle--Simon

D:
Dumoulin--Marino
Matheson--Ruhwedel
Pettersson--Friedman
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) October 27, 2021

#Pens PP1: Crosby, Guentzel, Rodrigues, Zucker, Marino.
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) October 27, 2021

Crosby's status for Thursday's home game against the Calgary Flames remains up in the air. If the captain doesn't participate in that contest, his next chance to play will be Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.

For what it's worth, Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo noted Crosby largely looked like his old self on the ice coming off Tuesday's result:

When asked about 87 the other day, Kasperi Kapanen said with a laugh, “I mean, it’s Sidney Crosby. He’s always going to be the best player out there." The captain looks phenomenal again today. He just did a backhand spin-o-rama that ended with one of his patented backhands.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 27, 2021

The Pens have gone 3-1-2 without Crosby since Oct. 12.

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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