The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to live without the services of Sidney Crosby for a while.
Crosby has been dealing with a sports hernia since training camp, and on Thursday the team announced that he underwent "a successful core muscle injury repair." The recovery period is expected to be a minimum of six weeks.
It was first reported on Tuesday that the 32-year-old may elect to have surgery to deal with the issue, which was exacerbated by a collision during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Crosby later left the game after taking a puck to the right skate, but the foot injury was deemed as not serious and not related to the hernia.
Crosby then sat out the Penguins' contest against the New York Rangers on Tuesday after meeting with Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia earlier that day.
Rather than seek out alternative therapies, Crosby went to the Vincera Institute, where Meyers performed the surgery on Thursday morning.
The Pittsburgh captain's absence is another blow to a Penguins team that is already missing Kris Letang and Patric Hornqvist. Crosby leads his team with 17 points in 17 games this season.