What had Crosby so fired up in final minute?

It takes a lot to get Sidney Crosby to lose it.

It takes an awful lot to get him to lose it in the final minute with the Penguins down a goal and possibly risking a penalty.

In that context, then, get a load of this from Blake Coleman, New Jersey's fourth-line left winger, with 28 seconds left in the 3-2 loss to the Devils on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena:

Crosby confirmed to me afterward that the cross-check got him in the neck, but his immediate reaction spoke volumes about how seriously he took the matter. Our staff photographer, Matt Sunday, saw the captain angrily go back after Coleman once, twice, three times with some stickwork of his own.

Then, when the final horn sounded and the Penguins' hard, sustained push in the attacking zone couldn't produce the tying goal, Crosby followed referees Kevin Pollock and Ian Walsh back out to center ice to let them feel his wrath, too. Because had the proper penalty been called, the Penguins would have had a two-man advantage for the final half-minute, since Casey DeSmith had already been pulled for the extra attacker.

There was some sentiment within the Penguins' organization that the NHL Department of Player Safety might review the incident but, as ever, little faith that anything would be done.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY