NHL fans witnessed something that they barely ever see last night. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby dropped his gloves with Winnipeg Jets‘ Kyle Connor. Although it wasn’t much of a fight, the reason behind him fighting likely points to his frustration with how the Penguins season is going.
The Penguins were down 3-0 to the Jets in the third, and only 38 seconds into the period was when Crosby and Connor got into it. The fight lasted only a few punches before both players fell to the ice. However, when Crosby got back to his feet, he was still trying to throw punches at Connor, but the linesmen were in the way attempting to break it up.
Crosby has dropped the gloves before when he has reached his limits while battling against his opponents. But this fight carries a bit more weight when you look at how the season has been going for his club, and there seems to be no fix coming in the near future.
Currently, the Penguins sit in a three-way tie for last place in the Metro Division with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets with just 18 points. Their record is 7-11-3, and it truly seems like things in Pittsburgh are going to get worse before they get better. Nevertheless, when your captain and star player decides it is time to get into a fight to wake up his team, fans tend to question what the state of the team and locker room is like.
If this isn’t a wake-up call for Penguins GM Kyle Dubas to attempt to make a change, what else is? His star player and captain of his team dropped the gloves while losing 3-0. Yes, the fight came after a reverse hit, but that fight likely had a deeper meaning, due to his frustrations mounting, and the management group needs to recognize that and do something about it as soon as possible.
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The only question left to be answered is, what is their first move? A major roster shakeup or firing head coach Mike Sullivan? Dubas has to be exploring both options, but if he were to make a major roster shake-up, it would need to be big enough to help change the culture of the room. Which means someone like Bryan Rust, Richard Rakell, or even trying to move on from Erik Karlsson’s contract. It could even mean finally moving on from a core member like Kris Letang or Evgeni Malkin. Regardless, something major needs to happen to change the direction of this team, and it needs to happen fast.
On the other hand, if he were to fire Sullivan, there could be a chance that Dubas looks at Jim Montgomery as a potential replacement. Even though he was fired by the Boston Bruins, he is a good coach with a good track record of winning, and he proved that during his time with the Bruins with his record of 120-41-23.
