Unexpected turn of events during Penguins practice: Sidney Crosby's injury fate has been confirmed

Sidney Crosby was not on the ice for Wednesday's practice, as coach Mike Sullivan said he was being evaluated for an undisclosed upper-body injury.

Crosby had left part of the third period in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey after appearing to hurt his left arm in a collision. However, he returned later, playing through overtime and the shootout.

Today, Crosby was on the ice for Pittsburgh Penguins practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and completed the pre-skate drills without incident.

His status for Friday's matchup against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden remains uncertain. Still, his participation in practice suggests he could be available.

A teammate speculated Wednesday that Crosby's absence might have been a routine "maintenance day" following the incident in the Devils game.

If the injury's worse, he'll miss games against the Rangers and Flyers up ahead and conceivably could be in question to play a week from now in the Four Nations tournament for Team Canada. Crosby has already been named that team's captain.

Sitting out would also endanger his streak of 229 regular-season games played, the longest currently on the club, but his practicing today is at least an indicator he'll dress tonight.