Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby returned to the lineup against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Joseph Blandisi was assigned to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to make room for Crosby on the roster.
The Penguins captain was injured in a Nov. 9 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, and underwent core muscle surgery to repair a sports hernia on Nov. 14.
In 17 appearances so far this year, the Penguins captain has five goals and 12 assists.
Despite missing their best player, the Penguins have continued to roll thanks to strong performances from Evgeni Malkin and goalie Tristan Jarry. The Penguins have gone 18-6-4 without Crosby, giving them a league-leading .714 points-percentage and putting them in second-place in the Metropolitan Division entering play Tuesday.
Crosby was centring a line with Jared McCann and Dominik Simon in the morning skate and also took shifts on the top power-play unit.
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