Sidney Crosby knows what it’s like to be targeted as a star player.
Sidney Crosby expressed some empathy Monday afternoon when asked about Connor McDavid responding to an entanglement with the Canucks’ Conor Garland with a cross-check to the face this weekend.
“It’s like anything,” Crosby told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe before Monday’s meeting with the Kings in Los Angeles. “Sometimes your emotions get the best of you. It’s a physical sport.
“The one time you see that, you probably didn’t see there nine hits that Connor took. Those ones are the ones that never make the highlights. When you retaliate, you make the highlights.”
Connor McDavid has been suspended for three games for cross-checking Conor Garland. pic.twitter.com/eDLhaCouCD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 20, 2025
Crosby continued, per Yohe: “Whether it’s him or anyone else, it’s an emotional game. That’s going to happen sometimes. If there were calmer or cooler circumstances, he probably wouldn’t have done that.”
The Penguins captain didn’t go as far as some other commenters on the situation, such as Corey Perry. The Oilers winger told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector the NHL needs to “protect their superstars,” presumably by penalizing Garland before McDavid had responded with the hit.
The incident in question took place Saturday in Vancouver. The Canucks were leading by one goal with under a minute left on the clock when Garland worked to hold McDavid to the ice for several moments. The Oilers captain retaliated by hitting him in the face with a hand also holding his stick.
The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Monday that McDavid would be suspended three games for the incident.
In their explanation as to why the suspension was levied, the department said the cross check made “direct contact with an opponent’s head with sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline.”
McDavid will forfeit more than $195,000 in salary while sitting out over the next week, per Canucks reporter Noah Strang.
Crosby has his share of experience receiving additional attention as a star player, although he has never been suspended by the NHL. He hadn’t even received a game misconduct until February of his 18th season, when he was dismissed early from a 6-0 shutout loss in Los Angeles in 2023.
McDavid’s speed generally makes him one of the best players in the league at drawing penalties. He is one of just four NHL players to draw more than 200 since the start of the 2019-20 season. The retaliatory cross-check ensured the call didn’t go his way this time, even if Crosby can understand where it came from.