Let's start with this: Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are amazing.

They haven't necessarily played up to their potential during the course of the Stanley Cup Final, falling victim to the Nashville Predators on a trip to the infectiously energetic Bridgestone Arena after opening with a 2-0 series lead. But they just about grazed their ceiling on Thursday in a 6-0 blowout of the Preds, and there was little not to like about their performance.

Crosby glided all over the ice, combining his signature speed, passing and scoring prowess to bring the Pens' high-flying offense out of its slumber -- and absolutely torment a usually stingy Nashville blue line in the process. Pittsburgh, despite its blatant inconsistencies during back-to-back Preds routs in Music City and frequent scoring droughts this postseason, looked a whole heck of a lot like the defending champions at PPG Paints Arena this week.

Simply put, they are contenders. Real contenders. Underwhelming streaks or not, they've proven time and again that they cannot be counted out. This postseason alone, in fact, they've done enough of that to be crowned serious candidates for the Cup. And Crosby, alongside other longtime, polarizing leaders like Evgeni Malkin, has headlined that notion with big-time plays at exactly the right moments.

It is possible, however, to be amazing and also be irritating.

And that, particularly in the case Thursday in Game 5, is exactly what the Pens were. Irritating.

Not in regards to their play (like the frustrating absence of Crosby or Malkin contributions during the team's inexcusable streak of power-play failures vs. Nashville) but rather in regards to the way they carried themselves.

No, the Predators are not angels of innocence on the ice. Anyone who suggests otherwise is oblivious to some of the over-the-line contact Nashville has doled out -- both early in the series during their bouts with self-inflicted recklessness and throughout Game 5, especially long after Pittsburgh had wrapped up its punishing 6-0 victory.

Fair or not, however, the Pens hold a superior reputation as the clear-cut favorites in this series, not to mention favorites that boast the league's premier superstar in Crosby. And when a night like they had on Thursday, a beauty of an offensive showcase that most teams dream of touting in the Stanley Cup Final, is darn near overshadowed by the way Crosby handled moments of frustration in between an otherwise dominant outing at the forefront of Pittsburgh's blowout, that's a shame.

Maybe Crosby was right to get physical with Nashville's P.K. Subban, who has been jabbing and jawing with No. 87 for much of the series. Subban did, in fact, cling to his rival's leg during a scuffle Thursday that went viral. But if the excuse for Pittsburgh's face of the franchise -- one of the few faces of the league, if we're being honest -- repeatedly shoving Subban's head into the ice is that Crosby gets beat up all the time and shouldn't be penalized for finally dishing out some retaliation, that's just sad.

It's sad firstly because common sense says that committing Penalty X in retaliation to Penalties Y and Z from another game or even another play is ... well, still a penalty. And it's sad mostly because talk of Crosby's pure hockey skills or the utter domination of his team en route to a potential repeat title then suddenly devolves into talk of Crosby's character -- talk that Pittsburgh fans are assuredly just as, if not more, guilty of embracing than the rest of the onlookers around the league.

Crosby's toss of a water bottle onto the ice from the bench during Game 5 was notable, too.

But Nashville fans have been heaving catfish over the boards all series! It was an accident!

Maybe. But Crosby is not a fan. He is the player on the ice between the Penguins and the Predators, and he's also the guy who made sure to accompany his Game 5 highlights with the oh-so-classy head-slamming of Subban.

He might have entered Thursday's championship clash with a history of taking, not giving, cheap shots or should-be penalties, but he did his best to flip that script in front of a prime-time audience at PPG Paints Arena.

It's hockey, yes. And Crosby's latest antics weren't even as cringe-inducing as hits and cross-checks delivered by some of his Preds opponents and Pens teammates on Thursday.

When you're Sidney Crosby, however, you're going to get looks.

And Game 5 of a Stanley Cup Final full of twists and turns was not a good look for Crosby.

Fortunately for him, the Penguins and the Steel City that witnessed its crew take a monumental step closer to capturing a second successive championship this week, it doesn't much matter if that crew even comes close to replicating their sensational Thursday.