Logan Couture Accuses Sidney Crosby of Cheating in Faceoffs

Emotions were still raw for San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture immediately following the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-1 overtime win Wednesday in the Stanley Cup Final. 

After the game, Couture accused Sidney Crosby of using less-than-legal means of getting an edge as the puck drops, according to Sean Leahy of Yahoo Sports:

"

Logan Couture on Crosby in the faceoff circle pic.twitter.com/Ye2CwznDPS

— Sean Leahy (@Sean_Leahy) June 2, 2016"

On Thursday, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan responded, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press:

"I think we are all doing the same thing in the faceoff circle," Crosby added on Friday.

Crosby helped set up Conor Sheary's game-winning goal by winning a faceoff against Joel Ward at the 17:30 mark of overtime, per the NHL:

If Crosby is indeed cheating, the strategy hasn't been entirely effective. According to NHL.com, he is second in faceoff wins (245) this postseason but 15th in success rate (52.7 percent) among players who took at least 100 faceoffs. He was also 23rd in regular-season faceoff success rate (51.7 percent) among players with at least 1,000 faceoffs.

Whether or not Couture's criticism is valid, he and the Sharks can't afford to dwell on the issue for too long. San Jose is down 2-0 in the series with the Stanley Cup Final shifting to the SAP Center for two games. Should the Sharks drop Game 3 at home Saturday, they'll have bigger concerns than Crosby's faceoff tactics.