Crosby went down on the ice from the crunching check, which got here immediately after he gathered a loose puck within the Rangers’ defensive end. Crosby quickly regained his feet and tried to play on. But he couldn’t. He went to the bench and sat, lowered his head, after which left for the locker room with roughly seven minutes to play within the period.
Shortly thereafter, the Rangers unleashed a barrage of goals in succession from Adam Fox, Alexis Lafrenière and Trouba, who danced in from the purpose for a nifty backhand goal that added insult to Crosby’s injury.
One of the vital decorated players of the last 20 years, Crosby has won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins, two Hart trophies because the most beneficial player within the league and two Conn Smythe trophies for the most beneficial player of the playoffs.
But he also has a history of head injuries, probably the most serious of which occurred in 2011. To many skeptical Recent York fans, he also has a history of flopping in a perceived effort to attract penalties. But on this case, Crosby never even looked to the referees for a call.
There was no penalty issued on the play, however the National Hockey League’s office of player safety could examine it and impose a nice, if not a suspension, to Trouba on Thursday. From Pittsburgh’s perspective, it could behoove the league to maintain their best, most skillful players on the ice.
In the primary 4 games of the series, Crosby had two goals and 7 assists.
But not all of the Penguins were convinced the play was dirty. Marcus Pettersson was also asked if he thought Trouba acted with intent to harm.
“Truthfully, I didn’t see it,” he said. “But I don’t think so. Each teams are playing hard.”
The violent blow was levied one game after Gerard Gallant, the Rangers coach, had chastised his team for being “soft” in Game 4 in Pittsburgh, a game the Penguins won easily. Gallant was not asking hit players to take low cost shots, somewhat to compete harder, fight for pucks along the boards, and show more commitment on defense. They did all that.
