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What got into Sidney Crosby?

Pittsburgh Penguins v Philadelphia Flyers - Game Three

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 15: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Kimmo Timonen #44 of the Philadelphia Flyers square off in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Wells Fargo Center on April 15, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Penguins 8-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Penguins captain Sidney Crosby kicked off the scoring in both Games 1 and 2 against the Flyers, a role we’re accustomed to seeing him play.

Game 3 saw things change drastically.

While Crosby was still trying to help his team score goals (he had one assist), the darker side of Sid the Kid came out. During the first period with the Pens falling behind early, Crosby grabbed Kimmo Timonen by the scruff of his jersey, then dropped the gloves and tussled with Claude Giroux.

Instead of shying away from the scrums, Crosby was initiating action and stirring things up with the whack of his stick here and a shove from behind there. In the third period, Crosby was at his most frustrated and even grabbed Scott Hartnell from behind to engage him. Craig Adams stepped in and saved Sid from making a potentially dire mistake.

After the game, an 8-4 drubbing by the Flyers, Crosby let his hate flow through him sounding off about how he hates the Flyers and Jakub Voracek in particular as Sam Carchidi of Broad Street Bull reports.

Crosby on Voracek: “I don’t like him. Why? Because I don’t like him. I don’t like any guy on their team.”

We’ve been waiting for a long time to see real emotion out of Crosby and leave it to the Penguins’ most hated rivals to bring it out of him. Now Crosby will need to channel that hate into helping his team climb out of a 3-0 hole.