Andrew Peeke picked the wrong target Monday night, mocking Sidney Crosby from Utah's penalty box with the cameras rolling.
The Penguins star appeared to have a few words for the defenseman as he sat in the box. Peeke answered with a crybaby gesture.
Crosby didn't bite. The Penguins captain broke into a big grin and laughed it off like the veteran he is.
Here's the blunt part. It was childish, and it's a bad look for a 28-year-old to pull that on one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.
Crosby is a three-time Stanley Cup champion. He climbed to seventh on the NHL's all-time assists list just last week.
Trying to rattle him with a crybaby face is like honking at a parked bus. It makes noise, and the bus doesn't move.
Peeke has bigger things to worry about. He has one point and went minus-3 over his last five games.
Sidney Crosby is still producing while the Penguins keep sliding
Crosby, meanwhile, keeps finding the net. He has three goals over his last five games.
The team around him isn't keeping pace. Pittsburgh had dropped three straight heading into the night, capped by a 6-2 loss in Vegas on Saturday.
The 39-year-old still carries a -6 rating, a reminder that his production hasn't been enough to stop the slide.
Those are the stakes Dan Muse is managing, and they make a sideshow like this feel even smaller.
Utah's defenseman plays on a $1,000,000 cap hit, a price tag that says plenty about who has more to prove.
Will Peeke regret it? Clips like this tend to live forever on social media, and this one won't age well.
The cameras caught every second of it, and that's the part he can't take back.
-
-
Crosby has seen every trick in a career like his. A crybaby face from the box barely registers.
Pittsburgh hosts Florida on Thursday. If Peeke wanted to light a fire, he may have handed one to the Penguins instead.
Was Andrew Peeke out of line mocking Sidney Crosby with a crybaby gesture?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Dylan Larkin trade reportedly nearing in Detroit
