Crosby will play for Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Quebec -- Sidney Crosby was a full participant at practice Monday and will play for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off after he missed the Pittsburgh Penguins' final two games before the tournament with an upper-body injury.

Canada will play its first game of the tournament against Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

"Happy to be here and excited to get going," Crosby said after practice.

The 37-year-old center, who will also be Canada's captain, was involved in a collision with New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and forward Erik Haula midway through the third period of a 3-2 shootout loss on Tuesday. Crosby appeared to favor his left arm following the collision but returned after several minutes and took part in the shootout.

"I just got tangled up," Crosby said after the game.

When asked to clarify if it could have been his elbow, Crosby repeated, "I got tangled up."

Crosby did not play for the Penguins in a 3-2 win at the New York Rangers on Friday, the first game he had missed since Nov. 11, 2021, ending a run of 229 consecutive regular-season games played. He had gone through a tip drill and the rest of his normal pre-practice routine the previous day before leaving for the auxiliary rink at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, where he worked alone while his teammates practiced on the main ice.

Crosby then participated in an optional morning skate Saturday but did not play a 3-2 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers.

"We're going to take each day as it comes," said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who will also coach the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. "He skated for a long time this morning. He felt significantly better today than he did yesterday, and that's really encouraging."

Crosby leads the Penguins (23-25-9) with 58 points (17 goals, 41 assists) in 55 games this season.

"Obviously he's an important player for us, and so when he's not in our lineup, he's a hard guy to replace," Sullivan said Friday. "He's the heartbeat of this team."

Crosby, who is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, previously won the gold medal with Canada at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship; the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when he scored the golden goal in overtime against the United States; the 2014 Sochi Olympics; and the 2015 IIHF World Championship. He was also the captain for Canada when it won the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen, deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman and independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this report