Sidney Crosby played almost 20 minutes for the Pittsburgh Penguins in an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Toronto on Tuesday.
The center played 19:03 and did not have a point in the 3-2 overtime loss at Scotiabank Arena.
"I felt good physically," Crosby said. "I felt good, I felt strong, just anticipating and making plays and that kind of stuff. That's just going to come with time. But for the most part, I felt really good. It was fun to be back out there."
Crosby was a full participant at practice Monday after sitting out a scrimmage at the Penguins practice facility in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, on Saturday before they traveled Sunday to Toronto, the hub city for the 12 Eastern Conference teams.
"He looks good every day," Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel said before the game, his first since Dec. 30 following shoulder surgery. "Obviously, it's nice to have him out there. He's the catalyst for our team, so whenever he's out there, and just the way he plays, I think he makes us that much better. So obviously, really good to see him out there."
The Penguins (40-23-6, .623 points percentage) enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 5 seed in the East and will begin their best-of-5 series against the Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, .500), the No. 12 seed, on Saturday. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.
Crosby, who missed five of Pittsburgh's final six practice or scrimmage sessions in training camp, returned to practice Friday and skated on a line with Guentzel and right wing Conor Sheary after leaving a scrimmage July 18 for undisclosed reasons. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.
After skating with skills coach Ty Hennes for at least 65 minutes as his teammates scrimmaged Saturday, Crosby said he hoped to play in the exhibition.
"Ideally, I would've liked to get in a little more with the scrimmages and game-situation things," Crosby said Saturday. "But with that being said, I think the fact that I've been able to skate for a good chunk of time will help get through that. It's one of those things, I skated on my own for a long time and I didn't really feel like I needed another week of it, but with that being said, things are moving in the right direction. So hopefully I get into that exhibition game."
Crosby scored 47 points (16 goals, 31 assists) in 41 games before the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. He missed 28 games from Nov. 10 to Jan. 13 because of core muscle surgery.
With the Penguins captain present Monday, coach Mike Sullivan said he was impressed with the energy of practice.
"We thought the practice went really well," Sullivan said. "… I thought the attention to detail was there. I thought our pace was really good. Our compete level, I think our guys are excited to play. They're excited about this next phase. They know we're getting close to real competition. So I think there is a certain level of enthusiasm around our team that's a whole lot of fun to be a part of. I sensed that on the ice today."
