Crosby to play Wednesday against Rangers

Jan 28, 2009 - 6:29 PM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby will be in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the New York Rangers.

Crosby, who missed this past weekend's All-Star Game with an injured left knee, deemed himself ready to return after participating in his third straight practice Wednesday.

"I feel good," he said. "I haven't gone backwards in the last three days, so that's a good sign."

The 21-year-old originally suffered the knee injury January 14 against Washington in a collision along the boards and missed the team's following game two days later against Anaheim.

Crosby returned to play in the Penguins' final two contests before the All-Star break. However, he felt the injury worsened following Pittsburgh's game against Carolina on January 20.

The 2006-07 Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner, Crosby received the most votes ever in fan balloting (1,713,021), smashing Jaromir Jagr's previous record.

But despite attending the festivities in Montreal, the Penguins' captain did not play in the Eastern Conference's 12-11 shootout victory.

The first overall pick of the 2005 draft, Crosby is tied with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for second in the NHL in scoring with 60 points.