In an NHL landscape where the only information less-than-forthcoming coaches usually give out is the half of the body on which an injury occurred, it’s sometimes best to go straight to the source for an update.

So, Sidney Crosby, how’s that recovery from a core muscle injury coming along?

“Yeah, I’m playing tonight,” Crosby said after morning skate Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. “Excited to be back in the lineup.”

Sidelined the previous 28 games after having surgery to correct his injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain will make his long-awaited return to the lineup against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. It will be his first game since Nov. 9.

He officially was activated from the injured list Tuesday afternoon.

Crosby will return to a team that posted an 18-6-4 record during his absence and sits in second place of the Metropolitan Division with a 28-12-5 record and 61 points.

Despite that success, something clearly was missing with him unavailable for more than two months.

“He brings a level of confidence with our team that I feel like we’ve been missing,” forward Jared McCann said. “Even when we were winning, he’s sorely missed. He brings that skill level and that extra double threat when you’ve got him and (forward Evgeni Malkin) out there. If he’s back, we’re happy to have him back, obviously. He’s a great leader and a great player for us.

“When you miss a player of his caliber, obviously the game changes a lot. You’ve got to simplify things. You’ve got to take it one shift at a time, one period of time. We did that. We showed that we could do it. Now that we have him back, we’re a different team.”

Crosby’s return would lead to a different lineup based on the lines the team used in the morning skate. Crosby centered a line with McCann at the left wing and Dominik Simon on right wing.

“He can shoot the puck,” Crosby said of McCann. “He’s got to keep using it. With that shot, he can score from anywhere. His speed opens up a lot and backs defensemen off. He’s been playing great hockey. It’s more me adjusting to the speed of things and my timing than him having to adjust to how I play.”

There is also a chain reaction for the team’s other centers with Crosby in the lineup.

“It just gives us more flexibility,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It gives us the ability to play four lines more. We’re trying to play a pace game. It can be taxing, especially when you look at the demands of the schedule. We’re going through a stretch here, we’re playing 11 games in 20 days. Ideally, it should give our coaching staff an opportunity to manage minutes a little bit better than we’ve been able to the last little while. And from a matchup standpoint, it gives us a lot more flexibility.”

Clearly, the Penguins are a better team with Crosby. At the same time, they’re not going to stray from what has worked while Crosby — as well as others, such as forward Jake Guentzel and defenseman Brian Dumoulin — convalesced.

“We just keep grinding,” McCann said. “We keep doing what we’re doing. We’re not going to change anything we’re doing.”

Notes:

• To make room for Crosby on the active roster, forward Joseph Blandisi was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. In 21 NHL games this season, Blandisi has five points (two goals, three assists).

• Goaltender Tristan Jarry is expected to start in net for the Penguins. In 22 games this season, Jarry has a 15-6-1 record along with a 2.08 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and three shutouts.

• The Penguins’ lines and pairs were:

Dominik Kahun — Evgeni Malkin — Bryan Rust

Jared McCann — Sidney Crosby — Dominik Simon

Alex Galchenyuk — Andrew Agozzino — Patric Hornqvist

Zach Aston-Reese — Teddy Blueger — Brandon Tanev

Jack Johnson — Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson — John Marino

Juuso Riikola — Chad Ruhwedel

• The first power-play squad included Crosby, Hornqvist, Letang, Malkin and Rust. The second power-play unit was Galchenyuk, Kahun, Marino, McCann and Riikola.

• Defenseman Kevin Czuczman and forward Sam Lafferty are expected to serve as healthy scratches.

• The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins recalled goaltender Emil Larmi from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

• The Wild are expected to start goaltender Devan Dubnyk in net. In 22 games this season, he has an 8-11-2 record, a 3.16 goals-against average, an .898 save percentage and one shutout.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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