The Islanders conceded that Sidney Crosby is one of the most talented players in the game, but they believe the Penguin is getting some help from the officials – and that’s making him even better.
But as much as Crosby’s presence hurt, Chris Simon’s terrible match penalty in the third that forced the Isles to play shorthanded down the stretch didn’t help, as they fell 3-2 last night at the Nassau Coliseum.
As for their evidence of Crosby’s coddling by the officials, the Isles pointed to a second period Pittsburgh power play that was set up by Brendan Witt tangling with Crosby. After the ensuing tussle, Witt and Josef Vasicek were penalized, but only Pittsburgh’s Ryan Whitney was – Crosby wasn’t. The resulting Penguin man-advantage led to the game-winner by Tyler Kennedy.
“I still can’t figure it out,” coach Ted Nolan said after the Islanders lost. “It didn’t look right to me. They said he was playing Crosby tough all night. I don’t know what that means.”
Witt agreed.
“For him to come out with nothing, it doesn’t seem fair,” Witt said. “There shouldn’t be liberties [given] to special guys. It should be equal.”
But Crosby clearly is a cut above just about anyone else in the NHL and occasionally it seemed last night that he was treated as such.
“It’s frustrating,” said Mike Sillinger, who had a great chance to tie the game on a breakaway in the third, but his shot sailed high over the net. “You want to see it called both ways.”
They certainly couldn’t miss Simon’s latest transgression. Simon has caused plenty of trouble since joining the Isles, without a lot of results.
At 14:06 in the third, Simon appeared to sweep Jarko Ruutu’s leg from under him as the two left the ice. Simon then clearly stepped on the fallen Ruutu’s leg, forcing the five-minute match penalty call.
Simon refused to comment about the play and Nolan said he wanted to review the incident before saying anything, which he intends to do today.
“They called what they called,” Sillinger said. “I think [Ruutu] may have faked it a bit, as well.”
It was a difficult loss particularly since both teams are at the bottom of the tight Atlantic Division and the Isles did well to get back into the match after falling behind 2-0 almost as soon as the puck was dropped.
But the penalties proved to be too much to overcome.