Sidney Crosby dropped the gloves with the Blue Jackets' Pierre-Luc Dubois on Saturday.
"(The fight) wasn't much, it was more of a wrestling match than anything," Crosby said after the game. "It was more of a wrestling match than anything. I was lucky to get a five (minute penalty) out of it, not a four."
It was just the eighth fight of Crosby's career and his first since Feb. 19, 2015, when he fought the Blue Jackets' Brandon Dubinsky.
Just before the fight, Dubois had hit Jake Guentzel up high, and Crosby took notice:
"It was just one of those things that just happened," Crosby said. "It wasn't planned. I just saw the hit and didn't know what was going to happen. I went over there and it just kind of happened."
"You just wanted to go over there and stick up for him," he said.
With the fight and two assists, Crosby was two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat trick, just missing the goal. Given that Crosby rarely fights, he rarely has a chance for a Gordie Howe hat trick. And, given that he's Sidney Crosby and that he feels a compulsion to accomplish everything, he was definitely thinking about that.
"Trust me, I don't get many opportunities to get them," Crosby said. "So if I had an opportunity for one, I usually know it. It doesn't happen that often. It would have been nice to get them tonight."
It's cool to see Crosby get the takedown in a fight, and the idea of a Gordie Howe hat trick is fun, but there's really only one thing going through the mind of Mike Sullivan (and surely the minds of most fans) when Crosby drops the gloves.
"I just don't want him to get hurt," Sullivan said. "I understand why he did it and I certainly give him high marks. That's just part of his leadership. But I just don't want him to get hurt."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Blue Jackets, PPG Paints Arena, Oct. 5, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
