Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will not play Saturday night in a showdown with the Chicago Blackhawks due to a groin injury.

“My groin is bothering me a bit,” Crosby said. “I won’t be playing tonight. It’s something that’s been bothering me for three or four days and I’m going to sit this one out.

“When it’s getting worse each day, it’s not a good sign. I’ve missed periods of time over the last few years with groin (injuries) and I kind of know when it’s time to take a step back and make sure that I’m careful. I feel like I’m at that point.”

While Crosby is out tonight, his status for Pittsburgh’s next game – Monday vs. the Carolina Hurricanes – is unknown. He will handle the injury on a day-to-day basis.

“I have hurt my groin before where I’ve felt like it was going to be a couple weeks,” he said. “I feel like this is going to be day-to-day if I handle it right and I heal the way that I hope to. That is basically it. You take it day-by-day and hope it feels better.”

Crosby said the injury had bothered him the last few days but became progressively worse.

“The last game it was pretty sore. I practiced (Friday) and it didn’t feel very good at all. (Saturday) it was probably just as bad so it is something that I wasn’t able to shake it off.”

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on Thursday said he was well aware that University of Denver goalie Marc Cheverie, one of the early favorites for the Hobey Baker Award as NCAA hockey’s top player, is having a strong season.

“A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to someone about him,” Crosby said after the Penguins’ morning skate. “He was on a shutout streak.”

So why should Crosby know this, or care? Crosby and Cheverie, both 22, are from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

“We played together growing up, so I’m really happy to see him doing well,” Crosby said. “We skate back home together in the summers. . . . There are few guys from Cole Harbour who are going well, and that’s great to see. He’s done a great job. He went to a great school there in Colorado, and I’m happy to see him doing well.

“We played together for probably two or three seasons and we went to school together.

“We weren’t best friends, but we’d see each other a lot between school and hockey. He’s a great guy, and he’s been a solid goalie all the way up. I’m not surprised he’s doing well there.”