Reckless hit removes Sidney Crosby from game action (Olli Maatta)

Olli Maatta

Reckless hit removes Sidney Crosby from game action

By Ryan Wilson

May 2, 2017 • 11:35 am

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It was an incredibly eventful Game 3 between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The visitors were able to keep their season alive by securing a 3-2 victory in overtime. There were plenty of notable events that happened in the game, none bigger than Sidney Crosby leaving the contest with what had to be concerns about yet another concussion.

Very early in the game Sidney Crosby was aggressively attacking the Washington goal. On the way to the goal he absorbed a slash and a trip from Alex Ovechkin which ultimately led to Matt Niskanen crosschecking Sidney Crosby in the face. Niskanen was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct. That was the proper punishment and I have my reasons for that. Here is the incident.

I happen to like Niskanen a lot as a player and I think he is one of the most underrated defenseman in the league. I like watching him play. That is independent of judging his actions against Sidney Crosby

First things first, I don’t believe it was Niskanen’s intent to hit Sidney Crosby in the head. I do believe that Crosby falling from the slash/trip created a situation where Crosby was hit in the head. However, I do fully believe that Niskanen’s intent was to give Crosby a crosscheck. I do not believe Niskanen’s engagement was reactionary. He chose to engage with Crosby via crossechking motion. Because of that he is responsible for hitting another player in the head. Niskanen’s post game comments stress that there was no intent to hit Crosby in the head (agree), but they don’t dispel the fact he intended to crosscheck Crosby.

So the intent was to crosscheck, just not like that. I’m not concerned with what his intent was. I’m concerned that his actions resulted in a head shot. For that he deserved his punishment of a major and a game misconduct.

Chris Kunitz spoke about the Crosby hit

Here’s the thing, Chris Kunitz is a hypocritical voice on this matter. He is guilty of committing head shots and being suspended himself. Just last night it was Kunitz who got away with a blatant interference hit on Oshie that didn’t need to happen. Most levelheaded people know that Kunitz is not the best guy to be making these comments, but he’s not wrong. We don’t need that hit in the sport, Niskanen is a good guy, he probably didn’t mean it, it doesn’t excuse it.

Once again we can blame the NHL’s officiating standard for the sequence that led to Crosby’s injury. It is their lax application of the rule book that makes players like Niskanen think it is OK to cross check (not in the head) Crosby in the first place.

You can’t be surprised when you allow minor infractions that are against the rules to occur all over the rink and then one of those plays goes incredibly wrong whether it was intentional or not. How can you blame the players for thinking that they can get away with infractions. Once again, the overwhelming evidence to explain why players do what they do in this league:

The league fosters an environment which increases the likelihood of these events to transpire.

*This can be applied to the Ovechkin slash which for some reason was deemed an acceptable play*

I’m not looking for a suspension for Niskanen (neither is the league). The in-game punishment was stern and appropriate. Handing out that kind of penalty is how you deter future incidents like the one that occurred last night and that should be the main goal. Any time the league’s in-game rulings on headshots can get closer to mimicking the IIHF’s I feel like that is a step in the right direction. You don’t see the volume of head shots in international hockey because players aren’t willing to risk a severe penalty if they get the hit wrong. Players will make decisions based on risk/reward and right now in the NHL the risk is low and the reward is high.

Sidney Crosby doesn’t have a great track record with head injuries so this is unfortunately an all too familiar situation that Penguins fans are familiar with. We all know the protocol that goes into this. Hopefully, it was just a case of the Penguins medical staff being appropriately proactive.

For what it’s worth the following was reported last night

We’ll see. We can only hope for the best.

As for the game itself the Penguins battled as hard as they could without the services of Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary, who also left the game injured. It ended up being a low event game at even-strength which isn't a terrible thing without the services of Crosby and Sheary. Pittsburgh can trade chances with the Capitals when they have their entire lineup healthy. Losing Crosby really neuters their ability to play the kind of high event hockey that they have been able to feast on in recent memory.

Marc-Andre Fleury had some sparkling moments in the game last night preventing some goals that looked destined for the back of the net. None bigger than this one

His overall night was a .909 save percentage which is lower than it has been. Fair or not to Fleury when it drops that low and the Penguins do not control the shot share victory is a lot less likely. That's the reality of the current setup.

Midway through the third period it appeared as though the Capitals put the game away by going up 2-0. Pittsburgh was caught with three forwards down low and Justin Williams made the most of the 3-2 opportunity.

It was a great drop pass to Johansson and the most impressive part of the sequence was the pause and hold by Kuznetsov. If he one times the puck there is a chance Fleury makes the save. By waiting it took away Fleury's ability to hold down his angle and created an empty net. That's some next level patience by a next level player.

As we know that goal did not put the game out of reach. Evgeni Malkin did what Evgeni Malkin does when Crosby isn't in the lineup and that is produce offense.

It is right.

Evgeni Malkin wound back the clock and went with an old trusty friend, the one-timer bomb from the circle. These don't happen as often anymore, but they're still spectacular when they show up.

The Penguins followed that goal up with more pressure as a result of the extra attacker and received a fortuitous bounce off of a Justin Schultz shot which beat Braden Holtby. Evgeni Malkin earned the primary assist to finish the game with a goal and an assist in Crosby's absence.

I thought the Penguins were terrific both times they pulled the goalie to go 6v5. Pittsburgh showed incredible poise with the puck while moving it around the zone like a power play, but also carried a level of assertiveness which was absolutely appropriate for the situation. It isn't always easy to balance thsoe two in a pressure cooked situation and the Penguins did a phenomenal job of it last night.

The Schultz goal ultimately led to overtime where the Capitals received a season saving goal from their trade deadline acquisition, Kevin Shattenkirk. Hewas able to wrist the game winner home through traffic to keep Washington's season alive. The reason he had so much time and space was because Washington earned a power play in overtime.

I have no problem with the call made on Daley. I do have a problem with the way Olli Maatta found himself flat footed and not defending anything in the neutral zone. His positioning and awareness allowed the pass to come across to a danger Kuznetsov and because of his foot speed he was never able to recover. It forced his partner into a desperate act.

It was an impressive comeback for the Penguins considering the game conditions, but the Capitals are right back in the series.

The teams will return to action on Wednesday night. Will Sidney Crosby be involved? We'll find out soon enough.

Thanks for reading!

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