Sidney Crosby can't stand losing, and the Pittsburgh Penguins' struggles this season might be getting to him.
The 2022-23 season hasn’t been easy for the Pittsburgh Penguins; just barely holding onto a playoff spot with a 26-17-9 record is far from normal for this group.
The Penguins have been hit with inconsistencies, injuries, and underperformances all year and it’s starting to frustrate a number of people.
It’s very possible that Sidney Crosby is among those feeling stumped by the season; his actions during the team’s last two contests in Southern California would lead many to believe so.
In the Penguins’ victory over the Anaheim Ducks and loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Crosby had multiple moments that could be seen has his frustrations finally boiling over.
Ducks youngster Trevor Zegras was called offside against the Penguins, and that’s totally normal; it was what Zegras did following the whistle that made Crosby hot.
Following the whistle, it looked as if Zegras still attempted to shoot the puck on net; while he whiffed on the shot, that’s still not something you do in hockey.
With a 21-year-old almost breaking one of the unwritten rules of hockey, Crosby decided to throw a shoulder into Zegras’ chest.
A little scrum ensued, but nothing much else; while it’s nothing major, Crosby took it upon himself to teach Zegras some proper conduct in the NHL.
The following night, the Penguins had a much more difficult time on the ice; they lost 6-0 to the Kings, but things got chippy towards the end and Crosby was at center stage.
While down 5-0, Crosby was fed a pretty harsh cross check from Kings defender Mikey Anderson; Crosby dropped head-first into the skates of Sean Durzi.
While Anderson was assessed two minutes for the cross check, a once again heated Crosby skated over to have a few words with him.
A scrum broke out and Crosby was given a game misconduct penalty; he was then handed a second and ejected from the game when he followed referee Garrett Rank around the ice.
Crosby and head coach Mike Sullivan stated that Rank didn’t give an explanation for the initial misconduct.
It was clear, however, in both instances, that Crosby’s frustrations were being shown.
Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman discussed on the Jeff Marek Show that all of these factors have to be leading into a discouraged Crosby.
The Penguins are struggling to win with consistency, Crosby and the top six forwards are the only bright spot on the team, and these moments in California.
Crosby is known for his drive to win games; he wants nothing more than to be a winner and seeing the Penguins struggle this much can’t be easy for him.
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