Sidney Crosby uncertainty lingers as Pittsburgh Penguins take a day off

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a scheduled day off on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, which means no skate, no media, and likely no fresh word on their captain's lower-body injury.

That's the bad news, because the whole city is sitting on "day-to-day" and getting nothing back.

Crosby left Canada's Olympic quarterfinal with a lower-body issue and missed the final two games of the tournament.

He's back on the travel track, but the Penguins are still gathering information and waiting to evaluate him.

So Tuesday turns into a pure guessing game for line combos, matchups, and whether the "normal" Penguins even exist right now.

Crosby's season has been a backbone story, with 27-32-59 to this point, and he drives everything from the top-six to the man advantage.

Pittsburgh sits 29-15-12, and they do not have the luxury of sleepwalking through the week.

This is the part that makes fans groan, because the silence feels like it always stretches right before the worst-case headline.

If Crosby can't go, Rickard Rakell taking reps at center suddenly matters a lot more than it should in late February.

Avery Hayes getting recalled is a nice story, but it also reads like a contingency plan, not a celebration.

The next real checkpoint is Wednesday, then Thursday's home game against the New Jersey Devils comes fast.

No practice Tuesday means no clues, and no clues means the worry stays loud until someone finally talks.

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