Brandon Dubinsky Assaults Sidney Crosby

The game turned nasty as it moved along and Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who has a history of concussions, left the game briefly after Columbus center Brandon Dubinsky, a longtime antagonist, cross-checked him in the back of the neck with 80 seconds left in the second period.

Crosby obviously did not see the cross-check, since it was delivered from behind, so he really couldn’t say much about the sequence.

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, left, collides with Columbus…

James Reimer (lower body) won’t be available to play in Saturday’s game against Washington.

Right winger Cam Atkinson’s goal at 2:42 of overtime, created by Dubinsky’s puck possession at 3-on-3 play, led the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win before a sold out crowd of 18,205 in Nationwide Arena.

Crosby fell to the ice and remained down while Penguins training staff came out to the ice and ushered him immediately to the dressing room with 1:20 left in the middle frame.

As far as Dubinsky not being “that kind of player”. “That being said, I don’t try and do anything dirty”. There is always a certain faction of people who think that is too aggressive of a punishment, but I have yet to hear a good reason why a play like that should be in the game of hockey.

“I like the way we handled ourselves when they scored”, Blue Jackets coach Tortorella said. “But when you look at it again, it looked bad”.

Per the NHL Department of Player Safety, the explanation for the one game suspension was an illegal and unsafe cross check to the back of a player’s head.

The Blue Jackets returned the favor a few minutes later when they were on the power play. The Blue Jackets will take on the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night and it looks like they will do so without Dubinsky.