Penguins captain Sidney Crosby missed his second consecutive practice on Saturday with a sore groin. It appears unlikely that Crosby will play in Sunday's exhibition against the Red Wings. Pittsburgh will open the 2009-10 regular season on Friday night against the New York Rangers.

Penguins star Sidney Crosby left the team's preseason loss to the Blue Jackets on Thursday night with a groin injury. Pittsburgh said that the injury isn't believed to be serious. "It's better to stay off it. I'm hoping for just a few days," Crosby told the Associated Press. "I've hurt my groin before. It's not as bad. I think I missed five games with one last year. It's just something you have to be careful with."

Sean Avery sprained his right knee during a morning skate on Monday. "I am not sure how long," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "It is a sprain so he will be out for a little bit. He will be out for a couple of days." He collided knee on knee with fellow Rangers forward Ryan Callahan.

Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg is day-to-day after suffering an upper-body injury in the team's loss to the Capitals on Saturday. "He got hit late in the first and wasn't feeling too hot in his upper body," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see."

Blue Jackets forward Jason Chimera was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher after being checked into the boards by Wild center Eric Belanger. The hit came in the second period of Minnesota's 2-0 preseason victory Friday night. "From my view, it looked like he just had no chance to protect himself," Columbus forward Rick Nash said. "Obviously, (Belanger) doesn't have a history of (playing dirty) and he seems to be a pretty fair player. But I don't know, I need to see the replay and judge from that." Belanger was assessed a 5-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. "I didn't leave my feet, I didn't hit his head," Belanger said. "It's just bad luck."

Islanders forward Kyle Okposo was removed from the ice immobilized on a stretcher after taking a big hit from Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf early in the second period of a 5-4 loss Thursday night. A CT scan showed Okposo had a mild concussion, Islanders spokesman Seth Sylvan said in a text message to The Associated Press.

When he showed up for informal skates in Wilmington a couple weeks ago, Bruins center David Krejci boasted that he could be ready for opening night October 1, despite early projections that he wouldn't be ready to play until November after offseason hip surgery, according to an ESPN.com report. On Monday, Krejci tempered his expectations for the opening night game against the Capitals.

Capitals forward Tomas Fleischmann will miss the start of the regular season with a blood clot in his leg, according to an ESPN.com report. Coach Bruce Boudreau said Sunday that Fleischmann is expected to return to practice in early October.

Sabres forward Adam Mair will miss the start of the regular season after having hip surgery, according to an Associated Press report on Tuesday. GM Darcy Regier says Mair will miss at least six weeks.