EDMONTON, Alberta -- Sidney Crosby had a relapse Monday.
Not necessarily in his recovery from wrist surgery, but in getting his game back to its customary heights.
After making steady, if unspectacular, progress for a handful of games, he regressed during a 2-1 shootout loss in Calgary. There was a lot of that going around among his teammates when they faced the Flames, too. The key for Crosby is to prove that that game was an aberration, not evidence of a significant slide in his performance.
"Last night wasn't great, but definitely before last night, it felt like I was starting to get more comfortable, gaining some traction," he said after the Penguins' practice at Rogers Place Tuesday.
His first chance to generate some more positive momentum will come when the Penguins face the Oilers Wednesday at 10:08 p.m.
That means Crosby will be sharing a slab of ice with Edmonton center Connor McDavid, an exquisite blend of speed and skill who is widely considered to be Crosby's successor as the world's premier player.
"He's playing at such a high level," Crosby said. "When you're going against Connor, it's quite the challenge. At the same time, it's fun. That's why you play."
McDavid's brilliance is complemented by teammate -- and occasional linemate -- Leon Draisaitl, who actually leads McDavid (and everyone else) in the scoring race.
Draisaitl has 20 goals and 20 assists in 20 games -- that's some pretty nice symmetry -- while McDavid has 14 goals and 22 assists in 20, placing him third in the league behind McDavid and Alex Ovechkin.
Ovechkin doesn't have a tag-team partner like Draisaitl but then, neither does anyone else in the NHL. McDavid and Draisaitl are the most lethal 1-2 combination in the game, and the reason Mike Sullivan and his staff shouldn't count on a restful night's sleep going into Wednesday's game.
While those two might not be unstoppable, it's not often that opponents are able to shut them down.
"They're obviously two of the most dynamic players in the league, offensively," Sullivan said. "They're not an easy tandem to neutralize. Their numbers speak for themselves. ... We're going to have to try to make it a hard game for them. We're going to have to force them to play 200 feet."
Sullivan will have to find a way to do damage-control against McDavid in a different setting later this winter, when he coaches Team USA at the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. and Canada are in Group A, and assured of colliding in a preliminary-round game.
When the Games begin, Crosby will have a different perspective on McDavid, since they will be teammates.
Maybe even linemates, at least in some situations.
That's a possibility that clearly intrigues him.
"Anyone's excited to play with him," Crosby said.
A lot more than anyone is to play against him, anyway.
MORE FROM THE PRACTICE
• The Oilers canceled their practice Tuesday after defenseman Cody Ceci, who spent last season with the Penguins, tested positive for COVID-19. He'll join Darnell Nurse, Duncan Keith and Slater Koekkoek among those unavailable on the blue line.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Edmonton general manager Ken Holland said. “Three of our top four defensemen are out. What you try to do is stay afloat. Hopefully, we get up Wednesday morning and I get a text or a call saying everything is negative and it’s an isolated case with Ceci and we have a morning skate and find a way to grind out a win over Pittsburgh. If we get bad news, we have to deal with it and push on.”
• Dominik Simon, who left the Calgary game after being struck in the face by a puck during the third period, was a full participant in the workout.
• Being sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a few weeks ago was disappointing for Drew O'Connor, but gave him an opportunity to work on expanding his role by doing things such as playing center and penalty-killing on a regular basis.
"That's something I've done a lot in the past, in college and things like that," he said. "It's something I'd like to be able to contribute here."
• Evgeni Malkin, who is recovering from knee surgery, was involved in the workout, although not in any special-teams drills. At the very least, his participation suggests that he didn't suffer any negative effects from going on the ice at the game-day skate Monday.
• Brian Boyle, a surprise scratch for the Calgary game, did not practice and remains "day-to-day" with an unspecified upper-body injury, Sullivan said. He added, though, that "we'll see how he is tomorrow."
• The Penguins used these personnel combinations in practice:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Evan Rodrigues
Jason Zucker-Jeff Carter-Kasperi Kapanen
Dominik Simon-Sam Lafferty-Danton Heinen
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brock McGinn
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
Spares: Drew O'Connor, Mark Friedman, Evgeni Malkin