Sidney Crosby fell into the trap, and the Penguins paid the price
Sidney Crosby was chirping, shoving, and grinding Travis Sanheim late in a Penguins loss, and the clip is all over Saturday night.
The Pens trailed 3-1 late in the third when the scrum started. Sanheim knew exactly what he was doing, tying up the Penguins captain when Pittsburgh needed every second of offense.
Smart hockey by the Philadelphia Flyers veteran. Dan Muse's group needed Crosby driving play, not wrestling along the half-wall.
Bryan Rust eventually snuck one past in the dying seconds to make it 3-2. Too little, too late. The Flyers walked out of Game 1 with the win.
Travis Sanheim's board battle quietly decided the final shift
That is the kind of play that does not show up on any scoresheet but ends a team's comeback. Sanheim has been a plus-12 defender for Rick Tocchet's Flyers this year.
He plays that exact assignment all season.
Crosby, at 38, can still impact every shift he takes. He put up 74 points in 68 games and posted 12 points over his last 10 before the playoffs started.
Sanheim knew the math. Pin the Pittsburgh engine on the wall and the comeback dies on the vine. Simple as that.
Watch the clip yourself. The body language tells you everything about how badly Crosby wanted a puck in that moment.
The Flyers went 43-27-12 on the year and are riding a three-game winning streak into this series.
They finished ahead of the Penguins in the regular season, and they played like the more composed team when it mattered late.
Pittsburgh closed the season with a three-game losing streak. Not exactly the springboard you want heading into a playoff opener.
Rust's late goal gave Pens fans something to hold onto, but nobody in Western PA is buying moral victories in April. Not in a Crosby window running thinner every spring.
The bigger question now. Can Muse get his captain better ice and cleaner matchups before Sanheim shuts the door again in Game 2 ?
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