The Pittsburgh Penguins have been forced to play the majority of their Game 3 showdown against the Washington Capitals without Sidney Crosby, who was brutally cross checked by Matt Niskanen in the first period and left the game with a possible concussion.
Sidney Crosby went to the locker room, Matt Niskanen got a five-minute major and game misconduct. pic.twitter.com/YgoTbUEMWt
— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) May 1, 2017
Crosby, who, like it or not, is the face of the NHL, has been known for regularly dishing out cheap shots, got a taste of his own medicine courtesy of Niskanen to the delight of many.
An injured Crosby is the best Crosby
— Aaron Hyjek (@Aaron_Hyjek) May 2, 2017
Reactions overall were mixed from NHL aficionados on Twitter.
hockey fans: “protect the stars!”
*crosby gets hit in the head and niskanen gets ejected*
hockey fans: “the nhl babies their stars!!”
— ㅤ (@penguinsworid) May 2, 2017
Niskanen was bracing for impact as Crosby was coming at him. Ovechkin isn’t intentionally slashing Crosby’s head. Just a real bad outcome.
— Dumb Bozo (@davelozo) May 2, 2017