MILAN — Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby, who suffered a lower-body injury in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament, said he made the decision not to play in Sunday’s gold medal game.

It would prove to be just the first disappointment of the day for Team Canada, who lost 2-1 to the United States in overtime on Sunday.

“It’s pretty clear given the situation whether you can either play or not play,” Crosby said after the game. “And just didn’t feel like I was able to. Even to get to the point where I had to make the decision, I didn’t think I’d be in that position after the Czech game. I think the medical staff, everybody was incredible.”

Crosby suffered the injury in the quarterfinals against Czechia as he was trying to brace for a hit from defenseman Radko Gudas. The play ended awkwardly with Crosby’s right leg bent awkwardly as Gudas toppled over him.

He was ruled out of Saturday’s semifinal game against Finland after Canada coach Jon Cooper had called him a game-time decision.

Imaging revealed that Crosby avoided the worst-case scenario with his injury, sources told ESPN. Over the past few days, Crosby did everything he could to return to the tournament, including consulting with several experts on hand in Milan.

Crosby said it crossed his mind that Sunday’s game might be his final Olympic opportunity, but it didn’t change the situation.

“It was a tough decision,” Crosby said. “Obviously in your head, you always want to be out there and find every way possible. But not at the expense of what needs to be done. And then watching how we played today, the guys played incredible.”

After the game, Crosby took the ice, in his captain’s jersey, to receive his silver medal alongside his teammates.

“You feel bad letting a guy like that down,” Canada’s Brad Marchand said. “Just one of the best ever to play, one of the best leaders to ever play the game. Wish we could have got it done for him.”

Canada had their chances on multiple occasions during Sunday’s game, but they were either stymied by U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck or just missed open shots.

Nathan MacKinnon missed a gaping net. Macklin Celebrini had six shots on goal, including a breakaway chance, but the 19-year-old couldn’t conjure the magic that he had earlier in the tournament. Hellebuyck somehow turned away shots by Devon Toews and Connor McDavid that seemed destined to go in.

“Obviously pretty sad. Disappointed. Just couldn’t finish,” MacKinnon said after the game. “We didn’t have that touch tonight. I missed a wide-open net. … Felt that we generated so many looks. It felt like it wasn’t really meant to be.”

He added: “You be the judge of who was the better team today.”

Canada beat the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that has featured the world’s best players.

“The whole time, we believed in ourselves,” Celebrini said. “We had lots of chances, I had lots of chances, I missed. You get put in those situations, you have to capitalize on your opportunities, and I didn’t.”

Drew Doughty said Team Canada has nothing to hang their heads about.

“In the end, I guess we got a silver medal — not at all what we came for,” Doughty said. “But one thing is, I thought we played a hell of a game today. I really did.

“… That’s one of the best games I’ve seen a team play that I’ve been a part of. I thought we were so good tonight, especially for the last 40 minutes. Yeah, it’s shocking. … I really thought we played a hell of a game. I thought it was going to turn out different.”

The 38-year-old Crosby is the oldest player on Canada’s roster and the most decorated — especially after scoring the golden goal in overtime to defeat the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

A source said Crosby “tried everything, just couldn’t play [Sunday],” while another source stressed that it was a selfless decision from Crosby, who skated both Friday and Saturday but didn’t feel he could help the team in full capacity and that his roster spot would be better served by a healthier player.

It had been trending in the right direction for Crosby to play over the past two days, but the decision was made after a long meeting involving Crosby, team coaches and doctors.

“I know he did it for us,” MacKinnon said. “He felt like he couldn’t battle completely. He could have just said he wanted to play and be on the bench, but we needed everyone. He did it for us and the country.”

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and The Associated Press contributed to this report.