Crosby plays Wednesday against Rangers

Jan 29, 2009 - 5:12 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby was in the lineup for Wednesday's 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers and appeared none the worse for wear.

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 morning. The 21-year-old native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia made his presence felt against the Rangers, recording one goal and three assists - all in the third period.

He originally suffered the knee injury January 14 in a 6-3 loss to Washington in a collision along the boards and missed the team's 3-1 victory over Anaheim two days later.

Crosby returned to play in the Penguins' final two contests before the All-Star break. However, he felt the injury worsened following Pittsburgh's 2-1 loss to Carolina on January 20.

The 2007 Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner, Crosby received the most votes ever in All-Star 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 second in the NHL in scoring with 64 points, trailing teammate Evgeni Malkin by seven.