How Penguins' Sidney Crosby got embellishment penalty after taking a Flyers stick to the face originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Sidney Crosby got hit in the face with a stick.Somehow, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain ended up in the penalty box anyway.It was an odd moment late in the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 on Wednesday.Garnet Hathaway didn't seem to intentionally hit Crosby with his stick, but the contact was clear.Crosby went down to the ground hard.They both ended up with two-minute penalties.How did Sidney Crosby get a penalty?Crosby was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with the specific dynamic being "embellishment."This is what happened:Garnet Hathaway catches Sidney Crosby with a slight high stick and both players head to the penalty box. pic.twitter.com/FrqnXjXZR4— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2026Hathaway did a lot of shouting at Crosby, clearly not happy with the way Crosby sold the high stick.By the same token, that can't have felt that great. It seems like it'd be hard for the refs to know that Crosby embellished versus feeling actual pain.That was the ruling, though, and so both Hathaway and Crosby ended up in the penalty box.More NHL news:'Better Days,' Buffalo and a Sabres team uniting a cityPorter Martone matches some 1929 NHL history for FlyersOilers find some incredible irony with Connor McDavidESPN announcers trashed for failure to say goalie's nameA nightmare in goal for the Sabres