Cooper: Crosby 'game-time decision' for gold-medal clash vs. USA

Canada coach Jon Cooper said captain Sidney Crosby is a game-time decision for Sunday's gold-medal matchup against the United States, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Crosby was injured in Canada's quarterfinal win over Czechia. He left the contest after an awkward collision with Radko Gudas and was unable to return. Crosby and Canada's staff reportedly tried to find a custom brace to help the 38-year-old suit up for Friday's semifinal versus Finland, but were unable to find a solution.

Cooper noted that Crosby won't dress in the gold-medal game for the sake of it.

"No. It's too important," Cooper said, per TSN's Mark Masters. "We don't want to have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player capable of helping. You never know if guys are going to get hurt. He wouldn't want to do that either."

Canada scraped by Finland with a 3-2 victory without Crosby to book a spot in the final. Tom Wilson said after the game that Crosby was instrumental in inspiring his teammates to a comeback win that was decided by Nathan MacKinnon's power-play goal with 35 seconds remaining.

Crosby had notched six points in four games before being injured. He traveled to Milan in search of his third Olympic gold medal after triumphs in 2010 and 2014. Crosby famously scored the golden overtime winner against the United States in Vancouver, and buried an important tally in Sochi to defeat Sweden.

While Crosby's status is uncertain, Cooper ruled out defenseman Josh Morrissey for the finale. The Winnipeg Jets star was injured in Canada's first game and hasn't played since.

Puck drop between Canada and USA is set for 8:10 ET on Sunday.