Penguins furious with officials after Game 3 against Flyers turns into 'WWE match'

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksNHL playoff predictionsBracketStanley Cup tiersNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterNHL Playoffs Penguins captain Sidney Crosby earned the first embellishment penalty of his career in Game 3. Eric Hartline / Imagn Images Share article7PHILADELPHIA — They’re partying like it’s 2012 in Philadelphia tonight. The Penguins couldn’t be more furious. In a game that was reminiscent of the series that was the low point of the Sidney Crosby era, the Penguins lost their cool, lost some arguments with officials and lost Game 3 5-2 to fall behind 3-0 to the Flyers. Once upon a time, they fell behind 3-0 in Philadelphia in Game 3, losing their cool along the way. History repeated itself 14 years later. Two events transpired to infuriate the Penguins and subsequently invigorate the Flyers. The Penguins were ahead 1-0 in the first period when Garnet Hathaway’s stick caught Sidney Crosby in the face before a faceoff. Crosby fell to the ice and stayed down for a few moments. Hathaway was assessed a high-sticking penalty. Meanwhile, after a lengthy discussion while the bloodthirsty crowd was in an uproar, the officials decided to give Crosby a two-minute penalty for embellishment. “I don’t know how I end up with embellishing,” Crosby said. “It’s hard to understand.” His head coach came to Crosby’s defense in a big way. The Penguins captain had never been handed a penalty for embellishment in his career until tonight. “We don’t have a single embellishment (penalty) all year,” Dan Muse said. “Sidney Crosby doesn’t have an embellishment penalty in 21 seasons. The stick’s in his face. They take both of them. I disagree on that strongly. Not one. Not one on our team all season. We didn’t come into this series and start (embellishing now). Our guys have done a good job of that. And Sid doesn’t embellish.” Hathaway was asked about the incident. While the Penguins were miffed by that ruling, they know that the game changed in the second period during a melee that delayed the game for 10 minutes. It started when Travis Konecny elbowed Bryan Rust in the face behind the Penguins net. Rust then started punching Konecny. Later in the chaos, Konecny appeared to make an attempt to kick Rust while on the ice. When it was over, there were 11 players in the penalty box, including all 10 skaters who were on the ice during the incident. They all received two minutes in penalties, except for Rust, who received four. Trevor Zegras scored immediately afterward on the power play. “It kind of turned into a circus out there,” Crosby said. “Not sure why they decided to put five guys into the box on each end (Pittsburgh has six). Yeah, I felt like that kind of changed momentum. It took a long time. Obviously we didn’t get the kill.” Rust was livid following the game. “I got elbowed, so I just kind of locked him, took him to the ground,” Rust said. “He tried to kick me. We threw a couple punches back and forth. Not sure why I got an extra two (minutes).” The Penguins were curious as to why he was given an extra two minutes on the play. “I asked (the referees),” Rust said. “They didn’t even pay attention to me.” One by one, the Penguins said they didn’t wish to make excuses, that they’ve been outplayed in this series. They were convinced on this night, however, that the game undeniably swung following the Konecny-Rust incident. Rust, in fact, was asked what changed the momentum in the game. He directed it back to that moment. “The game turned into a bit of a WWE match in the second period,” he said. “They fed off of that.” Zegras’ goal came just 45 seconds after the incident. Two more Philadelphia goals followed in the next six minutes. “I think we feed off of that,” Hathaway said. “We’re a close group. There’s no denying that. So you see guys step up for each other. We fed off that first and then we fed off the crowd second. But yeah, that’s where we grabbed the momentum. And whether that was the reason, I don’t know, but we took it and we ran with it from there.” • The Penguins were good in the first period, but even by the end of the opening 20 minutes, the moment was starting to change in Philadelphia’s favor. That tight defensive system continued to give the Penguins fits and, after they erupted for seven shots on goal in the game’s first three minutes, they were pretty quiet offensively for the remainder of the game. It was essentially more of the same. • It wasn’t a good night for Stuart Skinner. He was the Penguins’ best player in the first two games of the series, giving the Penguins an opportunity to win when they had been thoroughly outplayed. He did no such thing in this game. Most of the Flyers’ goals were quite stoppable. It wasn’t a great night for the netminder. • Did Crosby embellish? It’s hard for me to say. I’ve never been hit in the face by a stick, especially when I wasn’t expecting it. What I didn’t like about the call was how long the officials decided to talk about whether he embellished or not. You think he did or you didn’t. That’s how it’s supposed to work. By standing there and discussing, they let the crowd sway them, in my opinion. It should also be added that Hathaway, not exactly decorated for being a clean player, has been fined by the NHL for embellishing calls in the past, meaning he’s been in trouble for it on more than one occasion. Tough moment there for the Penguins. • The hard truth is that, when there is chaos in this building, it never benefits the Penguins. In fact, going back to a past building the Flyers played in long ago, it never benefits the Penguins were there is a melee in this city. Everyone knows it. They simply couldn’t help themselves from engaging. That they were short-handed after the Rust-Konecny incident was absolutely absurd, yes. But you just can’t engage in that situation to the extent they did. It never, ever works out well. • Erik Karlsson wasn’t pleased that the Penguins were short-handed after the play, but was more angry that he was sent to the penalty box. Karlsson explained that a couple of the Penguins and a couple of the Flyers “did nothing” and were miffed that officials decided to put everyone on the ice in the penalty box. • Anthony Mantha has been horribly disappointing in this series. The only noticeable thing he’s done is shoot the puck over the glass, putting the Penguins short-handed, right after they had pulled within a goal midway through the third period. Naturally the Flyers scored on the power play. • I thought Crosby had his best game of the series, but he simply isn’t at his best right now. There is absolutely no explosiveness in his skating. • It’s simply been a poor series for the Penguins’ blue line. The Penguins get hemmed into their territory for long stretches largely because their defensemen are unable to navigate their way out of their own territory. • On the bright side, the power play righted itself, scoring twice. • The Penguins are toast. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that they have the ability to win four straight games against a Flyers team that is playing well above its talent level. This one is going to sting for a long time. The Penguins will play on Saturday for a chance to have another home game, which could be the final one in Pittsburgh for a number of players. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms