Every so often, violence rears its head in the sport of hockey. While line brawls are uncommon in the modern game, seeing Sidney Crosby being the instigator of once is even rarer.
On Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Crosby found himself in the centre some shenanigans. With the Sharks nursing a 3-0 lead late in the third period, Evander Kane started dishing out some jab shoves as both clubs came together in front of their benches.
Members from both sides then started mixing it up, including Crosby, who didn't appreciate Brenden Dillon taking issue with Marcus Pettersson. Crosby, with his gloves on, started throwing shots at Dillon before players on the ice came together to engage in a mini-line brawl.
Michael Haley, who was claimed off waivers and made his Sharks debut in his second stint with the team, took exception to Crosby and landed a couple of shots in hopes he'd oblige to go 1-on-1. Wisely, Crosby declined to go with the enforcer by falling to the ice.
Haley, Crosby, Dillon, Pettersson were all ejected with game misconducts. After an argument with the refs, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan was ultimately ejected, too.
Over 50 penalty minutes were issued out from the altercations.
The Sharks got two goals from Tomas Hertl, while Brent Burns and Kane added the others, as they now trail the Flames by a point for first place in the Pacific.
(h/t NHL on NBC)
