PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby needed oral surgery Saturday afternoon after taking a puck to the mouth during his first shift of the Penguins' 15th consecutive victory, according to coach Dan Bylsma.
"He went to the hospital [to] have oral surgery," said Bylsma, who added that Crosby lost some teeth. "We'll continue to evaluate and monitor that."
The NHL's scoring leader left the ice with his mouth covered by a towel after a Brooks Orpik slap shot from the left point perhaps was deflected on its way to striking him. Crosby, who was in the lower inside left circle facing away from the net, immediately dropped to the ice, tossing his stick to the side. A small pool of blood formed on the ice.
Crosby was down for several seconds but skated off under his own power accompanied by team training staff. He went to the Penguins locker room and did not return to the game, won by Pittsburgh against the New York Islanders, 2-0.
Crosby holds a 10-point lead on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos in the NHL scoring race with 15 goals and 41 assists in 35 games. Crosby has not missed a game this season after playing in 22 regular-season contests over a two-year span because of concussion issues.
Although the Penguins limited the official update on Crosby to his mouth and teeth, Bylsma did not rule out the possibility he would be subject to testing to determine if he sustained a concussion.
"I think every time that type of thing happens to a player you think of that," Bylsma said. "It doesn't matter who it is. ... You think about those things regardless of the player, yes."
The Penguins announced before the game that top-pairing defenseman Paul Martin would be out for approximately six weeks because of an unspecified broken bone in his upper body that will require surgery.
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