Pittsburgh Penguins columnist Rob Rossi was on TSN 1050’s Naylor and Landsberg Tuesday and did not back down from his assertions the Washington Capitals intentionally injured Penguins’ star Sidney Crosby in the Washington Capitals’ Game 3 overtime victory.

 

Rossi: Capitals know their best chance to beat Penguins is eliminating Crosby

Penguins columnist Rob Rossi joins Naylor & Landsberg with guest host Dave Feschuk to discuss his column on how the NHL should suspend Alex Ovechkin for the remainder of the playoffs for his slash to Sidney Crosby, if the Penguins can still win without their star and more.

 

Rossi explained that not only Capitals' defenceman Matt Niskanen's cross-check that led to Crosby's injury was intentional, but star forward Alex Ovechkin led to the incident and should be suspended.

"I believe that the Capitals know that their best chance of winning the series is eliminating Crosby like any team knows that," he told Dave Naylor and Michael Landsberg. "I believe that any team in the playoffs including the Penguins would think similarly of the best player on the other team – I don’t look at these guys as choir boys."

Rossi, who has covered the Penguins for the past 10 years, said he has always been adamant in severely disciplining all headshots.

"I think you have to take it in the prism of I’ve covered a lot concussion-related incidents in my time around the Penguins since Sidney Crosby came into the league," Rossi explained. "I’ve been consistent, whether it’s Matt Cooke or whether it’s Chris Kunitz or Alex Ovechkin, I err on the side of severe discipline even if it’s accidental or incidental contact because I just don’t think this league or these teams take head injuries seriously."

Given the Penguins' undefeated record in the playoffs with Crosby in the lineup against the reigning President Trophy winners, Rossi refuses to believe the Capitals did it accidentally because they can’t beat the Penguins any other way. As he wrote in his column, the team, and their star Ovechkin, are simply dirty.

"Had the Capitals lost Game 3, they were going to be swept from a postseason they had ticketed as their ride toward glory," Rossi wrote in his column. "No Capital gripped that ticket tighter than Ovechkin, with understandable reason. He is arguably the greatest hockey player to never win the Cup. He also is indisputably as filthy as his right-handed shot is ferocious."

Rossi told Naylor and Landsberg that Game 3 was not the first time that the Capitals have gone after the Penguins in a dirty manner, pointing the Game 2 in Washington and last year's playoff series between the Pens and Caps.

"I’m just suggesting I’m not giving the Capitals any benefit of the doubt when every time they go against the Penguins it’s usually the same result, which is the Penguins coming out on top," he said. "You saw in Game 2 at the end of that game what happened. The Capitals had Tom Wilson going after players; you saw in last year’s series Tom Wilson going after players."

The NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday morning that Niskanen nor Ovechkin will face any disciplinary action for Crosby's injury. The Penguins have not yet announced the severity of their star captain's injury and how long he may be out for.