from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

Crosby's stick to the groin of Ryan O'Reilly was a social media sensation Tuesday night. It was spearing and went unpenalized. It happens a lot in the game undetected but the camera doesn't lie. In this case, Crosby was caught red-handed.

"At the time it hurt and it threw me off guard. I didn't know it was him until he came up to me on the ice and apologized," O'Reilly told this corner after practice Friday. "It was kinda weird having played with him too in the World Cup. It happens. It would have been nice to get a penalty, get a power play off it. It's definitely a penalty but sometimes things get missed.

"He apologized after said he didn't mean to do it. Once I looked at it, of course, it looked pretty deliberate. After he said, 'Sorry about that, I was going for your stick and I don't know what happened there.'"

Sorry, Sid. You weren't close to O'Reilly's stick. But it's a smart play if you get away with it. You would think referees would be on the lookout more. But as Boston's Brad Marchand often proves, repeated slimy moves caught on replay doesn't make them any more likely to be caught by the stripes.

"He's the best player in the game and he might have a little bit more leeway," a smiling O'Reilly said of Crosby. "Not necessarily something referees are doing on purpose but just in general. He's one key guy people are buying tickets to see. I don't know how else to explain it."

Crosby deserved a penalty, and maybe a fine, for the O'Reilly play. The Methot play is totally different. Yes, a slash to the hands is pretty common -- another issue entirely. Why it's not called more is baffling. But this one caused a bloodied, shattered finger that will keep one of Ottawa's top blueliners out for weeks. Methot sits fourth on the Senators in average ice time at just over 20 minutes per game and has a plus-13 rating in 67 games this season.

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