He doesn’t do it very often, but Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has shown a willingness to drop the gloves on occasion during his NHL career.
He did so for the first time in four years on Saturday night when he randomly found himself in a fight with Columbus Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois late in the second period.
This all seemed to be sparked by Dubois hitting one of Crosby’s linemates -- Jake Guentzel -- up high. As the two entered the Pittsburgh zone Dubois gave Crosby a little cross-check that resulted in the two of them wrestling against the boards in the corner.
Sidney Crosby sticks up for Jake Guentzel and fights Pierre-Luc Dubois pic.twitter.com/FSs6O0A0QU
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 6, 2019
Even though Penguins probably like seeing their captain stick up for his teammate, they were also probably simultaneously holding their collective breath while watching it happen. The Penguins were already playing at that point without Evgeni Malkin who had left the game following an awkward fall into the boards.
The absence of their two star centers did not really seem to hold back the offense as the Penguins scored two late second period goals to increase their lead to 5-1.
Before this skirmish Crosby’s most recent fight came during the 2015 season when he fought Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.