In the minds of the San Jose Sharks, preferential treatment Wednesday night helped Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
Crosby won an offensive-zone faceoff early in overtime of Game 2, and Penguins rookie Conor Sheary found the back of the net moments later to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 victory. It was Crosby’s 17th faceoff win in 24 tries Wednesday and his 26th in 40 draws for the series, and the Sharks believe he’s used more than pure skill and guile to be so successful at the dot.
“He cheats,” San Jose center Logan Couture told reporters after the game, via TSN.com. “He gets away with it. He’s Sidney Crosby. He times them, and they don’t kick him out for some reason, probably because of who he is.”
“Maybe he should’ve been kicked out,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic added. “It took him a while to get into the faceoff. But what do I know?”
Naturally, the Penguins believe otherwise.
“I’ve said it on a number of occasions. He’s not as good as he is by accident,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan told reporters. “He works extremely hard at it. He prides himself in the details of his game, like faceoffs.”
The Cup final now shifts to San Jose, with Game 3 set for Saturday night.
Thumbnail photo via Don Wright/USA TODAY Sports Images
