Canada's missing golden puck resurfaces

Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who was eliminated from the NHL playoffs on Wednesday, declined an invitation to join Team Canada which is competing in the World Championships.Crosby, who scored the overtime winning goal to give Canada the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics in February, was asked Thursday to travel to Germany to replace injured forward Ryan Smyth.Reigning Stanley Cup winners and playoff finalist in 2008, Pittsburgh was eliminated Wednesday in the quarter-finals by the Montreal Canadiens who took the best-of-seven series four games to three.

Sidney Crosby has only played 60 games in a season twice in the last five. While this season was shortened because of the lockout, Crosby is once again out indefinitely after being hit in the face with a puck. The injury occurred when a slap shot by a teammate was deflected by a defender's stick. Crosby, who leads the NHL in scoring, immediately fell to the ground, leaving a pool of blood on the ice. Crosby suffered a broken jaw and lost several teeth requiring jaw surgery and some extensive dental work.

Canada's Sidney Crosby and Russia's Alex Ovechkin, the National Hockey League's two top stars, carry their heated personal rivalry into the Vancouver Olympics and a possible showdown for gold.As the best playmakers on favored teams with tremendous hockey history, the Olympic focus would be on "Alex the Great" and "Sid the Kid" anyway, but their own competitive fire and history ensure electricity if Russia and Canada meet."Our games can speak for themselves," Crosby said. "He's a great player. It's always a tough battle."

Sidney Crosby's point streak ended at 25 games after he failed to register a point in the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Islanders. Until he came up against the Islanders, Crosby had recorded a point in every Penguins game since November 3.He produced 26 goals and 24 assists during that span. It marked the longest points streak in the National Hockey League since Quebec's Mats Sundin had a 30-game streak during the 1992-93 regular season.Crosby had also scored a goal in five straight games before being held off the scoresheet by New York.

Sidney Crosby scored three goals - including the 200th of his career - to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-1 NHL victory over Calgary.The Canadian superstar reached a career milestone on Saturday in impressive style, scoring all three goals in three different ways.Crosby scored a power play goal and an even-strength goal before scoring short-handed into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining.He had a chance at a penalty, but was denied by Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff's save less than five minutes into the game.

Fired-up Pakistan annexed the Asian Games men's hockey gold medal after 20 years with a convincing 2-0 win over Malaysia in the final on Thursday.Veteran Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead with his team's first penalty corner in the 26th minute, before striker Rehan Butt increased the margin three minutes after half-time.It was Pakistan's eighth Asiad hockey gold, ending a drought that stretched back to Beijing in 1990, and handed them their first major title since winning the World Cup in Sydney in 1994.

Sidney Crosby had his fourth career hat trick and added two assists for his second five-point game Saturday as Pittsburgh notched an 8-3 NHL victory over the New York Rangers.Crosby, the star of the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, fell a point shy of his career high for points. He had six points with a goal and five assists on December 13, 2006, in an 8-4 win at Philadelphia.Crosby scored once in the first and twice in the third period and added two-first period assists.