Dubinsky breaks stick cross-checking Crosby
Sidney Crosby’s greatest nemesis in recent years has been Brandon Dubinsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dubinsky is always assigned to do whatever it takes to get Crosby off his game. He has been successful at times, and others not, but he may have taken things too far in Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With Crosby trying to get position in front of the Blue Jackets’ net, Dubinsky was right behind him to make sure Crosby didn’t get anything for free. In the process of jostling for position at the net front, Dubinsky clearly and blatantly cross-checked Crosby in the back of the neck. That sent the Penguins star to the ice in a heap. That didn’t stop Dubinsky from giving Crosby one more shot.
With Crosby down in apparent pain, Dubinsky delivered another cross check to his back, breaking his stick over Crosby in the process.
Dubinsky took only a minor for cross checking, while Crosby left the game temporarily. He came back for the third period, though.
It will be interesting to see if Dubinsky gets any grief from the Department of Player Safety for this. The first one was dangerous enough, especially given Crosby’s history with head and neck injuries. The second one was just unnecessary, and delivered on a prone player. It’s hard to imagine the league standing idly by on something like that.
Here’s TV analyst and former NHLer Ray Ferraro’s take on the cross-check:
How can anyone wonder about Dubinsky x-check? This is a suspension 100%… And it’s got nothing to do w Crosby being on other end
— Ray Ferraro (@rayferrarotsn) November 28, 2015
Crosby wasn’t injured, which always plays a role, but given the high-profile nature of the rivalry between the two players, Dubinsky probably should be expecting a phone call at minimum.
The cross-check obviously racheted up the tension in the game as less than a minute later, Evgeni Malkin — yes, Evgeni Malkin — dropped the gloves with Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson.
That was some all-out aggression from Malkin, who threw a gloved punch before dropping them and getting a few licks in on Johnson. It wasn’t much of a true fight with the linesman between the two, but they both got majors for the scrap.
This rivalry has become one of the NHL’s angriest and Friday night was just another rage-fueled chapter between these two Metro Division foes.
Brandon Dubinsky delivered a pair of dangerous cross checks to Sidney Crosby. (ROOT Sports)
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