Sidney Crosby and his jersey -- "I'm just happy that ... it's back and [this is] over with." Previous coverage Thieves swipe jersey Crosby wore in his first NHL game (10/11/05)

Sidney Crosby of the Penguins recorded his first goal and assist in the National Hockey League last week.

Yesterday afternoon, he got to enjoy the first big save of his pro career.

When he left the ice after a practice at the Island Sports Center on Neville Island, Mr. Crosby was informed by team officials that the jersey he wore during his first NHL game last Wednesday had been recovered, less than two days after it disappeared from a piece of checked baggage at Pittsburgh International Airport.

"I'm just happy that ... it's back and [this is] over with," Mr. Crosby said.

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said the jersey was found between a piece of equipment and a stairwell by an airline employee early yesterday morning. It was still in the plastic bag in which Mr. Crosby's father, Troy, had packed it before taking a flight from here to Buffalo late Sunday afternoon.

Mr. Castelveter added that while US Airways has turned up no evidence that any of its employees were involved in the disappearance of the jersey, the investigation will continue. How the jersey went from being inside a piece of checked baggage to the spot where it was found has not been explained.

Troy Crosby had placed the jersey in his checked luggage before taking the flight to Buffalo. He said that when he collected his bags in Buffalo, he immediately noticed that one was partially unzipped. An examination of that bag and another he had checked confirmed that the jersey had been removed.

Mr. Crosby then alerted airline officials that the jersey was missing, triggering the search that led to its recovery.

Sidney Crosby also had the jersey he wore when Team Canada won the world junior championship in January stolen from a piece of checked luggage while he was making a connection at the Montreal airport. That incident colored his reaction when he heard the sweater from his first Penguins game was missing.

"I thought it was a joke when I first heard it," he said.

Mr. Crosby's Team Canada jersey turned up after about a week -- it had been stolen from his luggage by an Air Canada baggage handler, who subsequently was fired -- and the ending was equally happy for him this time.

And while Troy Crosby obviously had been upset about the disappearance of his son's first Penguins sweater, which he described several times as "an important jersey" for his family, Sidney Crosby said he had been content to let the search run its course because he could do nothing to influence it.

"It was something totally out of my control," he said. "I'm going to make sure I put my energy toward other things. All I could do was hope for the best, and hope to get it back."