PITTSBURGH (AP) — The 100th meeting between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin will have to wait.
That's if it even happens at all.
The Pittsburgh Penguins scratched Crosby and longtime teammate Evgeni Malkin, among many others, just hours before Pittsburgh was scheduled to host Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
The Penguins said Crosby is day to day with a lower-body injury and Malkin is day to day with an upper-body injury. Pittsburgh also scratched forwards Ben Kindel and Bryan Rust and defensemen Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson and Parker Wotherspoon.
Crosby and Malkin have both missed games recently with injuries. Crosby didn't play for a month after injuring his knee while playing for Team Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Malkin has missed nearly 20 games this season with various health issues.
The decision came two days after Pittsburgh clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2022 with a victory over New Jersey. The Penguins have basically locked up second place in the Metropolitan Division with three games remaining.
Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, and the Capitals are still holding out faint hope of making the postseason. Washington is still mathematically alive but likely needs to win each of its final three games and get some help.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) skates from Florida Panthers center Jesper Boqvist (70) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Philip G. Pavely)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, left, watches the reaction of center Evgeni Malkin, right, after scoring a goal and taking a hit from New Jersey Devils' Cody Glass (12) and Johnathan Kovacevic during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
ROME (AP) — In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held.
History’s first U.S.-born pope didn’t mention the United States or President Donald Trump in his prayer, which was planned before the talks were announced. But Leo’s tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
“Enough of the idolatry of self and money!” Leo said. “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”
In the basilica pews was the archbishop of Tehran, Belgian Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu. The U.S. was represented in the diplomatic corps by its deputy chief of mission, Laura Hochla, the U.S. Embassy said.
In the first weeks of the war, the Chicago-born Leo was initially reluctant to publicly condemn the violence and limited his comments to muted appeals for peace and dialogue. But Leo stepped up his criticism starting on Palm Sunday. And this week, he said Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization was “truly unacceptable” and called for dialogue to prevail.
On Saturday, Leo called for all people of good will to pray for peace and demand an end to war from their political leaders. The evening vigil in Rome, which featured Scripture readings and meditative recitation of the Rosary prayers, was taking place as simultaneous local prayer services were being held in the U.S. and beyond.
Praying for peace, Leo said, was a way to “break the demonic cycle of evil” to build instead the Kingdom of God where there are no swords, drones or “unjust profit.”
“It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive,” he said. “Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death.”
Leaders have used religion to justify their actions in the war. U.S. officials and especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have invoked their Christian faith to cast the U.S. as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes.
Leo has said God doesn’t bless any war, and certainly not those who drop bombs.
Leo presided over the service sitting off to the side of the altar on a white throne, wearing his formal red cape and liturgical stole and praying with a Rosary in his hands. Many of the priests and nuns in the pews fingered Rosary beads as the “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” prayers were recited.
The Vatican is particularly concerned about the spillover of Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, given the plight of Christian communities in the south.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Leo XIV holds a rosary as he leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A woman holds a rosary as she attends a vigil for peace lead by Pope Leo XIV inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV holds a rosary as he leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
