DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock called it “good entertainment.’’

Forward Todd Bertuzzi said it was “cool.’’

The Red Wings liked the feistiness goaltender Jimmy Howard displayed after the final horn Monday, when he rushed to teammate Henrik Zetterberg’s defense and began roughing it up with Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby following

at Joe Louis Arena.

“Just helping out a teammate, that’s all,’’ Howard said. “It’s become quite the rivalry, and we stick together out there.’’

Crosby cross-checked and slashed Zetterberg several times in front of the Red Wings net, triggering a melee. First, Bertuzzi stepped in and gave Crosby a face wash, and then Howard got involved.

“He does that stuff all the time. Somehow he gets away with it,’’ Howard said. “Z doesn’t take any of that. He went right back at him, and I stepped in there, too.’’

Said Zetterberg: “I saw Jimmy coming in with his glove and Crosby wasn’t there anymore.’’

Crosby maintains Howard had no business being involved.

“I don’t know what he was doing,’’ Crosby said. “It was one of those things, a couple guys battling at the end. I knew the linesman was in there. I don’t know whether (Howard) wanted a free shot, but I don’t think it was any place for him to be.’’

Howard’s teammates got a kick out it, though.

“I like that out of him, it was pretty cool,’’ Bertuzzi said. “Jimmy’s aggressive.’’

Zetterberg and Crosby have a history dating to the 2008 Stanley Cup finals, when Crosby went after Zetterberg following the final horn in Game 4.

“I don’t know if he gets away with it,’’ Zetterberg said. “He plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of heart. Sometimes, it comes out the wrong way.’’

Zetterberg said of the cross-checks: “I might be doing the same thing if (the score) were the other way.’’

Babcock said he liked the way his players rushed to Zetterberg’s defense.

“I know Sid now pretty good. He’s a competitive, competitive guy and he wants to win that matchup,’’ Babcock said. “Good players like playing against good players and beating good players.’’

Said Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury: “It’s fun and it’s good for hockey to watch these two guys go at it like that.’’

Crosby hears it from fans

Crosby, the player Detroit fans love to hate more than any other, was booed every time he touched the puck. Fans chanted “Crosby sucks!’’ several times as well.

Crosby joked about it while sitting beside Red Wings legend Gordie Howe in the dressing room as they shared some laughs.

“Never heard it before in this building -- never surprised, but maybe surprised to hear it here,’’ Crosby said. “First time since five years ago that I heard it here.”

Said Zetterberg of the atmosphere: “This is the way we like it. It’s loud. Every time we go on the ice, the crowd is with you and helping a lot. It was like a playoff game and it was fun to play.’’

Notable, quotable

Howard on the rivalry with the Penguins: “(The game) was a little bit more special considering who it was. It’s turned into a heated rivalry. I wasn’t participating (in the last two Cup finals), but I was right there on the sidelines watching. Just being there, you got a sense of the rivalry.’’

Bertuzzi: “That’s what you want, rivalries like that. It happens to be an Eastern (rival), which is nice, a little bit of change compared to playing the Western ones all the time.’’

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, a native of Grand Haven: “You’ve got to give credit to the Red Wings the way they played. They battled. ... They were a desperate team. I think our level, as far as desperation, needs to go up.”

Mike “Doc’’ Emrick, working play-by-play for Versus, called his 3,000th game. The Michigan native received a nice ovation after the milestone was acknowledged to the crowd in the third period.