Having missed the better part of two seasons during the prime years of his career about a decade ago due to chronic concussion woes, Sidney Crosby has no problem with safety.
Of the 896 players who have suited up for at least one NHL game this season, there probably isn’t a bigger advocate for protecting the well-being of anyone who steps on the ice than Crosby.
And even if he is generally soft-spoken in nature, not one of the other 895 has a louder voice when it comes to league matters.
On Tuesday, following his team’s 2-1 home loss to the Boston Bruins, Crosby cleared his throat.
Expressing confusion, the Penguins captain called for more clarity from the NHL in the aftermath of a boarding major in the second period against teammate Brandon Tanev.
At 12:57 of the middle frame, Tanev slammed Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi into the boards of the visiting bench. After dumping a puck into the Penguins’ zone, Tinordi tumbled awkwardly and laid on the ice for several moments before retreating to the dressing room with assistance. His undisclosed injury was labeled as “not great” by Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.
In addition to the major penalty, Tanev, who scored the Penguins’ lone goal on Tuesday, was given a game misconduct. A video review of the sequence upheld the officials’ ruling.
Crosby offered a measured assessment of the specific play as well as the league’s general approach to regulating such hits.
“I don’t think he had any intent there,” Crosby said via video conference. “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).
“The (referees) are out there, they’re trying to protect us and keep us safe. I get it. I can see them trying to do that. But I didn’t see it that way. Unfortunately, we had to go down. We got a big (penalty) kill there. I hope he’s OK.”
Crosby continued.
“I hope as players we get some clarity on what’s a good hit and what’s not,” Crosby said. “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.”
Whether Crosby’s words carry any weight with the NHL’s hierarchy is a matter of speculation. But few, if any, of his peers are as influential as to the league’s overall business than Crosby.
As for the Penguins’ business, it hit a rough patch Tuesday as their other franchise center, Evgeni Malkin, left the game in the first period after an earlier collision with Tinordi.
As Malkin tried to play a puck out of the right corner of the offensive zone, he was flattened on a shoulder check by Tinordi. During the process, their right knees appeared to collide. Coach Mike Sullivan did not provide an update on Malkin’s condition following the game.
Furthermore, third-line center Teddy Blueger was scratched for an undisclosed injury Sullivan described as “longer-term.” Blueger entered the contest with the team’s longest active streak of consecutive games played at 116.
Their absences coupled with Tanev’s ejection left the Penguins short-handed most of the game. Despite that, they offered a valiant effort against a stout opponent.
After the Bruins took a lead on a power-play goal by forward David Pastrnak, his 13th of the season, 3:20 into regulation, the Penguins responded at 15:22 of the first when Tanev cleaned up a rebound for his seventh goal.
Following a scoreless second period, the Bruins took a lead for good at 7:07 of the third when forward Trent Frederic scored his fourth goal on a screened wrister from the high slot.
Despite having their season-best six-game winning streak snapped, the Penguins seemed upbeat about how they played.
“There was a lot of adversity, a lot of things happened,” said goaltender Casey DeSmith, who made 31 saves on 33 shots. “Losing some guys and things like that. Everybody knows we played hard and everybody is staying positive. We’ve been on such a good run, we’re not going to let us affect us.”
While the Penguins expressed optimism despite the setback, Crosby conveyed his continued confusion — and perhaps for others around the league — in very clear terms over the NHL’s administration.
He didn’t quite go so far as to call the NHL a “garage league” as his owner, Mario Lemieux, once did famously in 1992. But Crosby didn’t mask his frustrations.
“If they’re going to err on the side of protecting us, I don’t think I’m ever going to argue that as a player,” Crosby said. ‘Especially with Tinordi being hurt and seeing him go in awkwardly. I get it. It’s just understanding that. You see some hits throughout the league, especially in the first half of the season here, it’s hard as a player to know. We look at a hit and think, ‘Oh, that’s a suspension,’ and it’s not. Or we think it’s a penalty and it’s not. Then you see a hit like (Tanev’s), you don’t expect a five-minute major and it ends up being one.
“I think it seems like it’s a little gray right now.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at srorabaugh@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
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