Let’s put the dumb ‘Crosby Spitting-Gate’ rumors to bed

During a late, post-whistle scrum, Sidney Crosby was seen having words with Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov.

For some reason, the Capitals’ media decided to pose the question on whether or not the Captain actually spit on Kuznetsov during their argument. The fact that I’m going into this in extreme detail is rather ridiculous, but it’s more so an effort to just put this nonsense to bed already.

As you can see from the footage, the two men are obviously taking part in extra-curricular activity, chirping at each other before the next face-off. In an effort to defend his teammate and stop the jawing, Alex Ovechkin grabs a hold of Crosby’s collar and yanks him backwards away from #92, snapping his head back in the process. That’s the “spitting motion” Washington’s creating a ridiculous narrative around.

And it isn’t just members of the media; Head Coach Barry Trotz is also pushing this absurd fiction, stating that he “thinks the video speaks for itself,” and that his Capitals are planning on just focusing on the next game.

The playoffs can get awfully cutthroat, especially between heated rivals like these two, but this is just petty and unnecessary and also adds in an unwarranted distraction from the actual game. If Crosby did in fact spit on Kuznetsov, further disciplinary actions would’ve been accessed, and the Russian center would’ve reacted a lot more angrily had he actually been spat on.

This is all so stupid. Let’s move past this and focus on an incredibly important Game 4 instead.