Lemieux visits Crosby in locker room after Penguins loss to Rangers

Considering the way the Pittsburgh Penguins handled defeat in Game 6, it didn’t feel like the New York Rangers merely won on Sunday. To many, it felt like the Rangers got under the Penguins’ skin.

That frustration has been quite apparent in the actions and attitude of Penguins star Sidney Crosby. Sometimes star players thrive off of spite, yet we’ve seen some examples of Crosby’s anger getting the best of him. Apparently Mario Lemieux was alarmed by what he saw in Game 6, as it appears that he had a counseling session with his feisty captain after that 3-1 loss.

This isn’t the first time that “Super Mario” decided to visit a long-time mainstay of this Penguins franchise during an especially turbulent moment.

The Hall of Famer made a visit to calm Marc-Andre Fleury down after a high-profile loss in Pittsburgh’s first-round defeat against the Columbus Blue Jackets. For what it’s worth, Fleury and the Penguins won the next two games in that series to close things out in six contests.

It’s probably not ideal for such a tactic to be a “once per round” kind of thing, but Crosby seemed unhinged during moments in both Game 6.

The margin between victory and defeat can be brutally small in the playoffs, so getting the Penguins back on track is key with their season on the line. It’s unfair to place all the blame at their 26-year-old’s feet, yet if you believe that a team follows its captain’s lead, then Lemieux chose the best person to meet with.

The Penguins have to hope that it works as well for Crosby as it did for Fleury, then.

- James O'Brien, NBC Sports