Sunday’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers was heated, controversial, and just the beginning. The two squads will all-but certainly play each other in the first round, in what is sure to be an emotional and rough series for all involved.
“Let’s be honest,” Sidney Crosby said. “Both teams bring out a lot of bad things in each other. You can sit there and put a microscope on every slash that goes on out there. The fact is both teams do it. … That’s going to happen when these teams play each other. I know that’s probably the most hacks I’ve given out personally in a long time. So they seem to bring out the worst in me, too.”
Crosby swatted at Brayden Schenn with his stick during the contest and Schenn responded by hitting Crosby in the back as the two returned to their benches. The contest broke down further from there. If you missed the madness that occurred towards the end of Sunday’s contest, you can watch it below.
Crosby hasn’t been able to lead his team to victory against the Flyers in either of the teams’ two matches since he returned from a concussion. However, he has traditionally dominated the Flyers. Crosby has 26 goals and 64 points in 38 career regular season contests against Philadelphia and he was just as impressive when the teams played each other in the first round of the 2009 postseason.
The Flyers are a different team this time around and might prove to be Pittsburgh’s Kryptonite in the playoffs, just as they have been in the regular season. Still, it will be very hard for them to silence Sidney Crosby and the Penguins’ offense.