Sidney Crosby is going to be sore on Tuesday.
In the final few minutes of the second period of Monday’s matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain had three eventful shifts in a row and his body paid the price.
It all started when Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe was called for interference when he sent Crosby tumbling into the Maple Leafs net. Crosby’s knee appeared to crash into the post, and he left the ice in some serious discomfort.
After undergoing some skate repairs, Crosby returned for his next shift only to take a puck to the face. The referees originally called Maple Leafs forward Bobby McMann on a four-minute minor for high-sticking, but after a review, they determined McMann actually batted the puck into Crosby’s face instead.
If that all wasn’t enough, in Crosby’s final shift of the period, he was involved in a massive collision with Auston Matthews. Both stars appeared not to see each other before colliding shoulder-to-shoulder and hitting the ice.
Thankfully for the Penguins, Crosby came out of it all relatively unscathed.
The Penguins came into Monday’s action winners of four straight and just one point out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference thanks to a late-season push led by Crosby.
