Not a lot went right for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of their first-round matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Actually, scratch that. Nothing went right for Crosby’s Penguins, as they fell into an alarming 0-3 hole in the series.
In what turned out to be a super messy Game 3, the Penguins lost their cool in this Battle of Pennsylvania matchup, succumbing to a 5-2 loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena. But that wasn’t all. Crosby became a talking point for all the wrong reasons after getting hit with the first embellishment call of his 21-year career, sparking debate around the league over whether the call from the referee was warranted. Wayne Gretzky, for one, has some particularly strong thoughts on the matter.
Wayne Gretzky Weighs In On Sidney Crosby’s Embellishment Drama
The incident occurred at 18:47 of the first period when Crosby was on his way to line up for a faceoff. That’s when Garnet Hathaway flung his stick and caught Crosby on the face. The Penguins captain promptly came tumbling down onto the ice.
For his part, Hathaway immediately received a penalty for high-sticking, but after a brief discussion, the referees also sent Crosby to the penalty box. The Penguins led 1-0 at the time, so this wasn’t exactly when the floodgates opened, but it certainly played a part in ramping up the tensions.
Discussing the call on NHL on TNT, Wayne Gretzky made his thoughts crystal clear.
“Crosby’s been a class act in the National Hockey League. The city of Pittsburgh is obviously very proud of him. He doesn’t embellish. I think the referee’s overreacted on that call last night, but it is what it is,” Gretzky said.
Gretzky says he disagrees with the Crosby embellishment penalty, talks about Philly being up 3-0 and shares some war stories from playing the Flyers 👀😂 pic.twitter.com/oPQWRVJbFy
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 23, 2026
‘The Great One’ also gave Pittsburgh head coach Dan Muse some advice, saying, “Pittsburgh’s gotta play whistle to whistle. Once the goalie’s made the save, you get your butt, get lined up in the face-off circle, and say we’re gonna keep coming at you. You can’t get into these fisticuffs because that slows the game down, and Pittsburgh needs to play that high-tempo game.”
The more alarming cause for concern for the Penguins is that the goals appear to have dried up in this Battle of Pennsylvania series. Pittsburgh was the third-highest scoring team in the NHL in the regular season. In three games so far, they have just four goals, and only one of those four came at even strength.
It also didn’t help that Stuart Skinner had his most shaky game of the series in Game 3, but the former Oilers goalie has hardly been the most pressing issue for the Penguins in this series. If they are to have any chance at overturning this 0-3 deficit, the goals will need to come from some of the veterans on the roster, Crosby included.
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