Sidney Crosby under NHL investigation after game one controversy?
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Alixandrea Gearey
Apr 19, 2026 (10:08)
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Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Sidney Crosby left Dan Muse with more than a Game 1 loss after his stick battle with Travis Sanheim turned into the clip everyone is rewatching.
The Flyers took the opener 3-2, and Sanheim was right in the middle of it with 1 goal, 23:20 of ice time, and 4 penalty minutes.
Crosby finished with 0 points, 3 shots, 19:36 of ice time, and 4 penalty minutes, but the stat line isn't why this play is hanging over the series.
What matters now is the sequence itself.
On first look, it felt like standard playoff nastiness between two veterans who weren't giving an inch around the crease and along the wall.
On replay, it looks heavier on Crosby's side.
The cross-checks he delivered had more force, and the slash that followed looked like a full two-handed baseball-style swing at Sanheim's lower body.
That's the part that changes the conversation.
The replay is what puts Crosby's actions on the NHL's radar
This is where the temperature around Game 2 starts climbing. Both players went to the box, but equal minors don't always tell the full story once the league slows the clip down.
That's why this won't be brushed off as just playoff emotion.
The NHL has handed out $5,000 fines for cross-checking and slashing incidents in the past when the stick work crossed the line but didn't rise to a suspension.
If the Department of Player Safety sees this the same way, Crosby has put himself in that lane. Maybe it ends with nothing. Maybe it ends with the max fine.
But it deserves a hard look.
For Pittsburgh, that's a bad place to be after one game.
For Philadelphia, this is exactly the kind of chaos Rick Tocchet can live with if his club stays on the right side of it.
That's what makes this more than a scrum.
Sanheim scored. Philadelphia won. Crosby was held scoreless. And the play most people are talking about isn't a power-play look or a faceoff.
It's a stick sequence that could bring league attention before the next puck drop.
Game 2 now has edge, bad blood, and a real question hanging over the Penguins' bench.
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