Yikes: Penguins' Sidney Crosby has surgery, out long-term

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without their captain for awhile, as Sidney Crosby had surgery to repair 'a core muscle injury'.

GM, Jim Rutherford hates handing out time lines on his injuries and usually keeps these close to his vest but after the Twitter account of the team sent out the tweet, that was that.

The minimum expected time to recover is 6 weeks, so don't expect Sid back anytime soon. Geno Malkin will be asked to step up in Crosby's place, as usually when one of the stars go down for the Pens, the other one steps their game up to another level.

The Athletic is reporting the injury may be related to a sports hernia, however, Crosby or the Pens have not confirmed that. The Penguins currently sit fourth in the Metro, with a 10-6-2 record. The team now faces quite the challenge as they try and hang on to a wild card spot in the East.