NHL teams
Craig Custance, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Sidney Crosby out of All-Star Game

NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The wattage of star power at this year's NHL All-Star Game got a little dimmer Thursday when Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford announced that captain Sidney Crosby will miss the game with a lower-body injury.

Crosby joins Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin in resting due to injuries during the All-Star break, with Malkin also withdrawing because of a lower-body injury. Malkin was replaced on the All-Star roster by Nashville Predators rookie Filip Forsberg.

According to the Penguins, Crosby has been playing through the injury and will need a week to heal. Because he's missing the All-Star Game, he won't be allowed to play in Pittsburgh's first game after the break against the Winnipeg Jets.

A similar situation occurred with the 2009 All-Star Game in Montreal, when Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom withdrew late and were forced to miss the Detroit Red Wings' first game after the break.

This was to be only the second All-Star Game in the past 10 years for Crosby, who now will miss his fifth straight. He played in the 2007 game in Dallas but missed the games in Atlanta, Montreal, Carolina, Ottawa and now Columbus.

Malkin didn't play during Pittsburgh's final game before the break, a shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. There is no timetable for his return.

In 43 games this season, Crosby has 15 goals and 36 assists, good for 51 points. That goal production is down slightly from last season's Hart Memorial Trophy-winning campaign, in which he finished with 36 goals and an NHL-high 104 points.

The NHL All-Star Game is Sunday in Columbus.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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