Game five of Thursday’s Stanley Cup finals was a fairly humdrum affair with the Penguins spanking the Predators 6-0 to go up 3-2 in the series. But Sidney Crosby and P.K. Subban may have provided the best action when they locked horns in the first period.
The two biggest stars of the series have not disappointed. Subban’s harassed Crosby with such regularity that it was only a matter of time before things bubbled over, and that came last night in the first period.
Crosby was surprisingly the aggressor, taking Subban down and slamming his head into the ice repeatedly until the defenseman was able to get to his feet and put Crosby into a headlock. Subban ultimately let it go, which is probably lucky for Crosby, considering Subban looked like he was about to execute an MMA style takedown of his own.
Both got hit with minor penalties and, after the game, Crosby blamed the tussle on Subban, saying he was just trying to get up off the ice and using Subban’s head as leverage. But he said Subban “was doing some UFC move on my foot. I don’t know what he was trying to do.”
Subban, meanwhile, took the high road.
“I’m not an official, so I’m not going to judge what’s over the line and what’s not,” he said.
It’s questionable whether Crosby crossed the line with Subban, but he definitely crossed it when he threw a water bottle at a Nashville player later in the game. And he got away with that, too.