Sidney Crosby reflects on return from injury after Penguins' OT loss to Hurricanes

Pittsburgh Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby returned from a month-long injury absence for Wednesday's matchup at the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Crosby needed only a period and a half of play to score his first NHL goal since the Olympic break, but the Penguins nevertheless suffered a 6-5 overtime loss to close out a five-game road trip. 

Following the defeat, Crosby discussed his return to in-game action. 

Sidney Crosby shaking off rust after injury

"Definitely some rust," Crosby acknowledged about his performance, per Bob Sutton of the Associated Press. "You’ve just got to find a way to make sure you adapt as soon as possible. Every game is so big. To come back at this point in the year, you’ve got to find a way to get that timing and make sure my game is where it needs to be." 

As The Athletic's Josh Yohe noted, Crosby finished the evening with two points and a pair of penalties in roughly 18.5 minutes of play. The Penguins went 5-3-3 while the 38-year-old was sidelined due to the lower-body injury he suffered during the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Feb. 18, and he said after Wednesday's loss that he feels his body held up well throughout the contest. 

"Some lead changes, things like that," Crosby said about what became a wild back-and-forth affair that featured Pittsburgh and Carolina scoring seven combined third-period goals. "But sometimes that’s what the game dictates, and obviously it’s about winning at the end of the day, so we’ve got to find a way to win that game." 

Dan Muse sends message to Penguins after tough loss

The Penguins began Thursday sitting in the second playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division standings and on 84 points. The New York Islanders ended Wednesday's NHL action on 83 points, while both the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings were on 82 points.

"There’s a ton to clean up," Penguins coach Dan Muse said after the loss. "It was a combination of things. Some of it was execution. Some of it was puck support. Some of it was the speed of it. There were times we had the right pieces in place in the right spots, and we were just taking our time. That’s a fast team (we were playing)."

34-18-16 Pittsburgh next hosts the Winnipeg Jets (28-28-11) this coming Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m. ET start).