‘Sid doesn’t embellish’: Dan Muse defends Penguins’ Crosby after penalty
The Pittsburgh Penguins have many reasons to be mad in the wake of a 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
The Penguins now find themselves down 3-0 in the series after failing to win on home ice. They’ve struggled to consistently generate offense, and their defense hasn’t been able to contain the Flyers. In what was expected to be a close series, a 3-0 hole is disappointing.
But an embellishment call on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby should not be one of those reasons.
As Crosby was gliding towards the faceoff dot with just over a minute to go in the first period, Flyers forward Garnett Hathaway skated past Crosby as he was picking up his stick behind him. Whether intentional or accidental, Hathaway’s stick made contact with Crosby’s face, and Crosby dropped to the ice in pain with a little bit of theatrics.
Garnet Hathaway catches Sidney Crosby with a slight high stick and both players head to the penalty box.
The officials assessed both players with penalties, giving Hathaway a two-minute minor penalty for high-sticking, and two minutes to Crosby for embellishment.
However, Penguins head coach Dan Muse was not happy with the call, believing the blame should have been solely put on Hathaway.
PIT coach Muse: “We don't have a single embellishment all year. Sidney Crosby doesn't have an embellishment in 21 seasons. Stick in his face, they take both of them. I disagree on that strongly. We didn't come into this series to start [embellishing] now. Sid doesn't embellish.”
“We don’t have a single embellishment all year,” Muse said after the game. “Sidney Crosby doesn’t have an embellishment in 21 seasons. Stick in his face, they take both of them. I disagree on that strongly. We didn’t come into this series to start [embellishing] now. Sid doesn’t embellish.”
Muse’s second statement is, of course, likely not true. While the number of embellishment penalties Crosby has taken in his career can’t be confirmed, it’s highly unlikely he that he hasn’t taken one over the course of his career, considering he has 389 minor penalties to his name.
However, you can understand the Penguins’ frustration in this situation. While Pittsburgh was up 1-0 at the time, and the Flyers didn’t score on the ensuing 4-on-4 sequence, they likely were hoping to get a power play in hopes of scoring a second goal to give them a lead. Instead, the Flyers rallied for three goals in the second, with the Penguins going on to lose the game.
The Penguins will look to salvage their season when Game 4 takes place in Philly on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.