Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has rarely stirred up controversy in his 16 NHL seasons. But he also knows what a dangerous hit looks like after missing nearly two years of his career with concussions.
So it was telling that Crosby questioned the officials after Tuesday's loss to the Boston Bruins, a game that featured two hits that resulted in injury but only one of which led to an ejection.
“I hope as players we get some clarity on what’s a good hit and what’s not,” Crosby said in his post-game press conference, according to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s tough to really gauge when you’re out there. I know it’s fast, but right now, it’s really hard to know what is in fact clean and what’s not. And when you’re out there playing, it’s important that you do know that.”
The two hits Crosby was speaking of were very different but had similar outcomes. The first one came in the first period when Bruins defenceman Jarred Tinordi levelled Penguins star Evgeni Malkin in the corner to the right of the Boston net. Malkin was slow to get up on the play and gingerly made his way to the Penguins bench and then to the locker room. While he did return for one more shift later in the period, Malkin was eventually ruled out of the game with a lower-body injury. Head coach Mike Sullivan didn't have any further updates after the game.
The second hit Crosby was questioning came in the second period. As Tinordi dumped the puck in from centre ice, Penguins forward Brandon Tanev hit him in the chest, sending him sliding hard into the boards. Tinordi needed to be helped off the ice and didn't return with an upper-body injury, which Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy later called "not great." Tanev was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding on the play, a call the officials confirmed after a video review.
“I don’t think he had any intent there,” Crosby said of Tanev's hit. “I hope Tinordi’s OK. He went in pretty awkward. But I don’t think there was any intent. I thought he hit him clean. He hit him timely as far as the puck being there. (Tinordi) did go in awkwardly, so you never like to see that. But I didn’t think it warranted a five-minute (major penalty)."
It's too early to say whether Tanev will receive any further discipline from the league. But what is clear is that Crosby and other players across the NHL would like more clarity when it comes to dangerous hits.
