Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse blasted the decision by referees to give star centre Sidney Crosby a penalty for embellishment on Wednesday, offsetting Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway’s minor for high-sticking on the same play.
The incident occurred late in the first period of Pittsburgh’s 5-2 loss in Game 3, knocking them down 3-0 in the series, with the Penguins up 1-0.
Ahead of a faceoff with just over a minute left in the first period, Hathaway caught Crosby with a high-stick while skating to his wing. The Penguins future Hall of Famer dropped to the ice while Hathaway appeared to immediately accuse him of taking a dive.
After consulting with each other, the referees elected to give Crosby a minor for embellishment, taking a power play away from the Penguins.
“We don’t have a single embellishment all year,” Muse said postgame. “Sidney Crosby doesn’t have an embellishment in 21 seasons. Stick in his face, they take both of them. I disagree on that strongly. We didn’t come into this series to start [embellishing] now. Sid doesn’t embellish.”
Crosby added he found it “hard to understand” how he received a penalty on the play.
Sidney Crosby speaks on his embellishment call and Bryan Rust's roughing penalty in the Penguins' Game 3 loss to the Flyers.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 23, 2026
(🎥: @nhlontnt, @SNPittsburgh) pic.twitter.com/qthM5R2yUC
The Penguins took their 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but the Flyers took over in the second, going up 3-1.
The two teams racked up the penalty minutes Wednesday with Philadelphia forward Matvei Michkov receiving an embellishment penalty of his own to offset an Evgeni Malkin minor for cross-checking. In total, the Flyers finished with 28 penalty minutes compared to 22 for the Penguins.
The Penguins, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2022, now face a must-win Game 4 in Philadelphia on Saturday to keep their season alive.
“There’s not much room for error when you’re in this position,” Crosby said after the loss. “That’s reality. The fact is, we’ve just got to win a game. That’s going to be our focus.”
“Now we’re going to see what we’re really made of,” veteran blueliner Erik Karlsson added. “Now it’s do-or-die. The toughest game to win is that fourth one, so hopefully we can start by winning one.”
