Crosby explains why he gifted a signed stick to fan who chirped him in the penalty box

On Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins steamrolled the New York Rangers 7-2 and captain Sidney Crosby led the way with two points.

As it is expected on the road, Crosby drew the ire of the Rangers crowd all night long but there was one Rangers fan who took it to another level. According to a Tweet sent to Rangers insider Rick Carpiniello, a fan who was sitting next to the penalty box was gifted a stick from Crosby simply because he laid into the Penguins captain so well.

The stick was handed to him by a Pens' trainer at the final buzzer. 

Crosby's gesture has gone viral, allowing the fan Marcus Mouning, who was tracked down by ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, to share his entire story and dish out some of his best chirps on several news outlets. 

"Hey Crosby, you were voted third toughest Canadian, behind Celine Dion and a close second to Avril Lavigne.

On Friday, the Penguins' captain was asked to explain what happened when he was in the penalty box and what drove him to reward a man who had been chirping at him all night long. 

"I’ve been in that situation before. Guys can kind of cross the line or take it a little far sometimes. I thought he did everything in pretty good taste. He had the section laughing and had me and one of the officials in the box laughing," Crosby told Michelle Crechiolo of the Penguins' website. 

Crosby is right to reward fans who love their hockey club, but can also respect the hard work from the rival team and its players. 

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