The Pittsburgh Penguins are on a mission, and Sidney Crosby is definitely leading the way.
Just a month ago, their hope of making the playoffs seemed close to zero. But they now have a nine-game point streak, and it’s their core group that’s carrying the weight. Crosby has had an amazing season, tying Wayne Gretzky’s record with 19 point-per-game seasons.
Sidney Crosby was again at the center of everything on Monday, as the Pittsburgh Penguins lost 3-2 in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the second period of the game, Crosby had three very eventful shifts in a row, and he must have been in some pain after them.
First, Crosby was tumbled into the Maple Leafs net by Jake McCabe, who was called for interference.
When Crosby crashed into the net due to McCabe’s push, Crosby’s knee appeared to crash into the post. Crosby had to leave the ice in discomfort, and he also needed some skate repairs.
When Crosby returned for his next shift, he took a puck to the face. The officials first called Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann on a four-minute minor for high sticking, but after a review, it was obvious that McMann didn’t actually touch Crosby’s face with his stick. Instead, he had accidentally batted the puck into Crosby’s face. But it still had to hurt.
Later, when Crosby took his final shift of the period, he was involved in a huge collision with Maple Leafs’s superstar Auston Matthews.
It’s not often we see two stars of their caliber involved in physical plays, but as Crosby skated towards the net, obviously not seeing Matthews coming, they collided shoulder-to-shoulder.
The referee even blew the play dead after the massive hit, despite none of the players being injured and without a penalty being called.
The collision between the superstars drew a lot of reactions from fans and quickly made the rounds on social media. Thankfully, both came out of it unscathed and postgame, Matthews explained what really happened in the incident.
”I just tried to get in the lane to block the shot and my momentum was going that way and I think his momentum was coming my way and I didn’t see him until the last second,” Matthews said per TSN reporter Mark Masters.
”It was unintentional and I was just hoping he was OK, honestly.”
