Crosby and Rakell will be sharing the ice as opponents on Wednesday in Montreal.
Sidney Crosby says he’ll be “good to go” when the 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off this Wednesday in Montreal.
Crosby, who sat out Penguins games on Friday and Friday Saturday suffering an apparent left arm injury in last Tuesday’s loss to the New Jersey Devils, checked with medical staff for both the Penguins and Team Canada before making the decision to play in the tournament, per ESPN’s Kristen Shilton.
Now he’s set to skate against Rickard Rakell and Sweden when Canada opens the tournament on Wednesday night.
Here’s a look at what that matchup will look like for the two Penguins forwards.
Crosby is set to play on a line alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone at even strength, and it looks like he’ll get time on the top power play unit alongside MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart and Cale Makar.
Team Canada lines at #4Nations practice:
Reinhart-McDavid-Marner
Stone-Crosby-MacKinnon
Jarvis-Point-Marchand
Hagel-Cirelli-BennettToews-Makar
Theodore-Doughty
Morrissey-Parayko
SanheimHill/Binnington/Montembeault
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 10, 2025
5 of the last Canadians on the ice at practice: PP1 (Crosby, Makar, MacKinnon, McDavid, Reinhart). Working through things. It’s such a lesson for anyone who wants to be good at anything pic.twitter.com/rmSaWtLE1Y
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 10, 2025
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that Crosby “didn’t miss a drill” or “show any reluctance to shoot the puck,” which are encouraging signs for any concerns regarding his left wrist.
The Pens captain also appears to have spent some extra time out on the ice with MacKinnon after the practice:
MacKinnon and Crosby doing their thing pic.twitter.com/VTbxO3t498
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 10, 2025
This is Crosby’s first time captaining Team Canada since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
In order to get the chance to play for a championship again, Crosby will first have to lead Canada out of the Round Robin stage. Teams gain three points for a regulation win, two for an extra-time win, and one for an extra-time loss. The two teams with the most points after three games get to play for the 4 Nations Face-Off title.
The opening round starts Wednesday against Sweden, where it looks like there’s a chance Crosby and Rickard Rakell could once again be sharing the ice together.
Rakell was skating alongside Mika Zibanejad on Team Sweden’s top line during Monday’s practice:
Team Sweden lines:
Rakell-Zibanejad-Nylander
Kempe-Pettersson-Forsberg
Bratt-Eriksson Ek-Raymond
Nyquist-Lindholm-Arvidsson
CarlssonHedman-Brodin
Ekholm-Karlsson
Dahlin-Andersson— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) February 10, 2025
William Nylander said the top line “felt chemistry right off the bat” during Monday’s practice, per The Hockey News’ David Alter.
It’s not clear how Sweden’s power play units will shake up, but given Rakell’s place in the top six it looks like he could get a shot at some time in the man advantage this tournament.
The 4 Nations Face-Off starts with Canada vs. Sweden on Wednesday at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.