Tom Sestito was recalled on Sunday by the Pittsburgh Penguins and had some words to say about the Blue Jackets Brandon Dubinsky.
Tom Sestito addresses Tootoo with a quote of the year candidate, and has a warning for Dubinsky. Read here: https://t.co/Uf39VuxC6X
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 7, 2016
You need to be a subscriber to read DK Pittsburgh Sports so I don’t have the full quote of what Sestito said, but in all honesty it doesn’t matter. He wants to get at Dubinsky if he tries to do what he did last time Crosby was in the lineup against the Jackets. Dubinsky as I'm sure you remember broke his stick cross-checking Crosby.
In the grand scheme of things all this is going to do is hurt the Penguins. Sestito in a normal game would never take a shift against Dubinsky. Sestito is a fourth line energy player, much the way Jared Boll is. If Sestito matches up against the Dubinsky-Cam Atkinson-Boone Jenner line, he is going to get skated around and the Jackets are going to get a ton of pressure and possibly a goal.
That match up is unlikely to happen as John Tortorella should save the Dubinsky line and have them match up against Crosby. In that situation the only way Sestito faces off against Dubinsky if he's on a line with Crosby, again advantage Jackets. Putting Sestito with Crosby really limits Crosby offensively. Crosby can make any player look good but putting him with a grinder doesn’t seem like a smart idea.
So what’s going to come of all this on Friday? I see this going one of two ways. First would be they line up against each other on the opening faceoff, the two fight, and the game proceeds as normal. Second, they don’t fight; Sestito runs around, cheap shots a Jacket, and ends up fighting Jared Boll. Sestito and Dubinsky have fought twice before, so I’d wager a third one is coming.
The irony in this whole situation is the player who is supposedly in charge of 'policing the game' is the one that will be causing the problems. It doesn’t matter what Sestito does to Dubinsky it’s not going to deter Dubinsky from playing Crosby hard or taking shots at him. The only way to prevent this sort of action is a lengthy suspension.
Suspending Dubinsky for 20 games + is the only true deterrent. Tom Sestito or his ilk sending a message next game does literally nothing
— Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) November 28, 2015
The teams meet for the final time this season Friday in Columbus. It is going to be a good one.
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