Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Penguins Need More From Their Best

04/21/2014 at 10:44am EDT

from Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

• Neither Crosby nor Malkin has scored in the Penguins' past six playoff games. In that span, which is more like seven games when overtimes are weighed, they have combined for five assists.

• In playoff series in which the Penguins were eliminated since winning the Cup in 2009 — not including 2011, when Crosby and Malkin were hurt — Crosby had 13 points in 17 games, Malkin 11 points in 17 games.

• The most recent playoff game-winning goal for both came in 2010, Crosby against Ottawa and Malkin against Montreal.

• Crosby never has scored in a playoff OT and — get this — has one third-period goal in his past 30 playoff games!
Save any deeper analysis, please. The best players have to be the best players. Maybe not every game or even every series. But it's an absolute must for Cup contention.

Save the excuses, too. Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, the two greatest players in franchise history, rose up to the biggest games. Those guys were shadowed, too. They were beaten up, too. And yet, they never were passengers while a Brandon Sutter or Matt Niskanen carried the load. But for the rarest of exceptions, they were front and center, stood their tallest.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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