Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby torched the Philadelphia Flyers for the better part of the last two decades. However, he did something on Wednesday night that was a first for him: he was called for an embellishment penalty. And after the Penguins lost 5-2 in Game 3 to the Flyers, and found themselves behind 3-0 in the series, Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse took the time to address the embellishment minor. As did Crosby.
Late in the first period, with the faceoff to the right of goaltender Dan Vladar, Flyers winger Garnet Hathaway (who had just finished tying his skate) skated by Crosby who was positioned to take a faceoff. Hathaway moved his stick behind his back from his left hand to his right, causing the stick to be pointed upward as he skated by Crosby. The stick looked like it hit Crosby’s visor (or went just underneath it). Crosby fall to the ice and appeared to be in severe discomfort. Officials pointed to Hathaway as the culprit and he was heading to the penalty box for high-sticking.
But Hathaway insisted he didn’t clip him, that Crosby was embellishing to get the Flyers down a man. Officials got together and decided that, yes, Crosby was guilty of embellishment, resulting in coincidental minors with the Penguins holding a 1-0 lead.
Hathaway received a penalty for high-sticking and Crosby gets an embellishment penalty before the faceoff👀 pic.twitter.com/YowdQlOGMn
— Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) April 23, 2026
After the game, Crosby was asked about the second period and in particular the scrum featuring Travis Konecny and Bryan Rust. Rust took an elbow from Konecny but proceeded to try pushing Konecny’s head into the ice, leading to both sides having a handful of players in the penalty box for roughing minors. Crosby’s response spoke volumes and fell in line with the stereotypical narrative of the fight-oriented, fisticuffs-first Flyers goading the passive Penguins teeming with Good Samaritans.
Sidney Crosby following Game 3 🎙️ ⬇️
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 23, 2026
"I don't know how Rusty ends up with the extra [penalty] out of all of that. I don't know how I end up with the embellishment… you gotta play through that." pic.twitter.com/lr3Qtuu2w6
“I don’t know how Rusty ends up with the extra penalty out of all of that. I don’t know how I end up with the embellishment. It’s hard to understand but you got to play through that,” Crosby said.
There’s some evidence over the years that Crosby sometimes went down a little easier than expected, but he wasn’t called before on it. This was the first time officials decided to do just that.
Dan Muse echoes Sidney Crosby’s comments about embellishment
With his team facing elimination in Game 4, and having now scored just four goals in three games compared to Philadelphia’s 11, Muse took the opportunity to address Crosby’s minor penalty. And he wasn’t happy with it either.
Muse: "We don't have a single embellishment all year. Sidney doesn't have a single embellishment in 21 seasons. I disagree on that (call) strongly."
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) April 23, 2026
PIT coach Muse: “We don't have a single embellishment all year. Sidney Crosby doesn't have an embellishment in 21 seasons. Stick in his face, they take both of them. I disagree on that strongly. We didn't come into this series to start [embellishing] now. Sid doesn't embellish.”
— Phil Bourque (@pbourque29) April 23, 2026
Pittsburgh has nobody on the plus side of plus/minus after three games. And Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov, Tommy Novak, Ben Kindel, and Crosby are still looking for their first goals of the series.
That information might lead one to think that Muse has much bigger fish to fry right now. But to respond in this manner seems a bit odd at best. Neither team scored on the four-on-four phase where both Crosby and Hathaway sat, and both left the boxes without engaging in anything else.
Perhaps it’s a way to distract from Pittsburgh knowing they could be one game away from possibly seeing the end of Evgeni Malkin’s career. Or realizing the fifth-highest goal-scoring team in the league (and one that is looking old and slow) has scored four times over 12 periods.
Whatever the case, Sidney Crosby now lays claim to an embellishment penalty, regardless of whether he or his coach understand why. What isn’t stretching the truth is that the Penguins are one loss away from a first-round exit against a Flyers team many didn’t give much of a chance. Unfortunately for Crosby and Muse, that’s no exaggeration.
