The coaching staff looked at a replay between periods, and Sidney Crosby questioned Suter about it later in the game, but itвЂ™s difficult to get upset about something you didnвЂ™t see.ДЇurthermore, could it be that most of the Penguins arenвЂ™t as smitten with Downie as some of their fans seem to be? As explained by Dejan Kovacevic in his weekly Friday Insider feature, the feeling inside Consol Energy Center is that DownieвЂ™s agitating presence on the team has caused league referees to be more hesitant in whistling penalties against the PensвЂ™ opponents. I gave the Pens the benefit of the doubt in this situation, as none of them saw the play live. Penguins: Without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Will Be an MVP Candidate.PenguinsвЂ™ Three Keys to Help End IslandersвЂ™ Point Streak.Penguins: Alex Galchenyuk May Finally Start Meeting Expectations.Penguins Will Continue to Persevere Despite Injuries.Pittsburgh Penguins: A Look Back at 2019.If Downie got a 20 game suspension for his hit on Dean McAmmond, one that was ruled intent to injure, he deserves double that sentence in this situation. But going after Crosby means laying him out cleanly in along the boards with a clean hit, not popping a ligament in his knee with one of the dirtiest of dirty plays that exist in the sport. Should Downie have gone after Crosby if he felt the Stamkos hit was over the line? Certainly. There's no video readily available of the Orpik hit from what I can tell, but from watching it on rewind via NHL Game Center, I can tell you that the Orpik hit was more of a case of a guy finishing his check than it was a clear intent to injure. Downie was going after Crosby after he took exception to a Brooks Orpik hit on Steven Stamkos earlier in the game. There's an argument here for trying to send a message. The puck is 90 feet from the scene of the crime. There's literally zero reason for him to do this play in this situation, let alone any situation.

(Of course, it's a pretty easy call, but I digress.) It's clear intent to injure on Downie's part. He's not just in a kneeling position.ДЇor maybe the first time ever, FSN Pittsburgh broadcasters Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey actually got this one right. That's kind of a rough screen grab, but Crosby's knee is bending to the side here. As the two reach the ice, Crosby's leg bends backward in a way legs simply aren't supposed to bend. On closer review, Downie clearly and deliberately lifted his leg, placed his knee behind that of Crosby and pushed. Downie was on Crosby's tail, and he slowly tangled his leg with Sid's, bringing the Penguin down to the ice. The two were skating along the boards in the Tampa end after Crosby had just passed the puck across ice. Situations like the one that former Flyer Steve Downie put the Penguins star in on Sunday afternoon are ones that absolutely, positively need to be removed from the sport of hockey.

In some cases, though, it's also pretty easy to look right past that hate and see the stupidity, the irresponsibility and the lack of everything that is good in an action by another player, even if that action serves as a detriment to Crosby and the Penguins.

As a Flyers fan, it's easy to hate Sidney Crosby.

Steve downie