Sidney Crosby Undergoes Successful Surgery

(PHN) — Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby underwent successful surgery on a core muscle injury Thursday morning, according to GM Jim Rutherford. Crosby is expected to be out at least six weeks.

The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers of the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. There is no word if the doctor was a Flyers fan.

Crosby, 32, is the Penguins leading scorer. He has 17 points in 17 games this season, including 12 assists. Crosby has been dealing with the injury, otherwise known as a sports hernia since training camp. He exacerbated the injury Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, then took a shot off his skate to add to the pain.

PHN Editor-in-Chief Dan Kingerski discussed the Crosby injury on the Penguins live chat Wednesday night and analyzed how the Penguins would deal with Crosby’s absence.

The Penguins are currently the top Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference, but some heavyweights are right behind them. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, and Tampa Bay Lightning have struggled this season but closely trail the Penguins in the standings.

Crosby will be the seventh Penguins forward and ninth Penguins player to miss multiple games this season. The list began with Bryan Rust who missed nearly one month beginning with an injury in the final preseason game. Rust was followed by Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bjugstad, and Alex Galchenyuk who each missed nearly four weeks. Jared McCann also missed a pair of games.

Currently, RW Patric Hornqvist is out due to injury, as well as Penguin’s top defenseman Kris Letang. Fellow top-pairing defenseman Brian Dumoulin also missed weeks in October.

Last season, Sidney Crosby played all 82 games and scored 100 points. He was a Hart Trophy finalist but Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov won the award.