Of course I am kidding with the above comment, but it is worth noting that I recently read that statement on a Penguins message board. The poster made the comment in jest regarding the thought process of many people around town who were ready to say that Evgeni Malkin had surpassed Sidney Crosby as the Penguins, maybe even the game’s best player. Sure, a strong case can be built, especially with the way that Malkin came out of the gate this season, but make no mistake, the reports of Sidney Crosby’s demise as the game’s finest have been greatly exaggerated.

With his third four-point performance of the season, Sidney Crosby now sits just 2 points behind his teammate for the league lead in scoring. That isn’t to take anything away from Malkin who is sitting on top with 41 points, but you have got to recognize what Crosby has done over the past two weeks.

The Penguins captain has posted 14 points (6G 8A) over his last 5 games and 17 (7G 10A) over his last 7. Malkin on the other hand has been ice cold (not), posting only 10 points (3G 7A) in his last 5 games, which allowed his teammate to creep awful close.

The “two-headed monster” as they have been called have scored or set up a whopping 98% of the Penguins 82 goals this season. That isn’t to say that they are a two-man team, as the Penguins have gotten goals from 16 different players on the season. It is no easy task to stop that offense from flowing through those two guys either, as more often than not the duo center their own lines.

Both players are on pace for 100+ point seasons, with Malkin projecting to 134 points (33G 102A) and Crosby to 128 points (43G 85A). The most intriguing item in that statistical line is the fact that Crosby is on pace to finish ahead of Malkin in the goal scoring department.

Though Malkin is a great playmaker, it is widely believed that he is more of a goal scorer than Crosby is. Number 87 is supposed to be a set up guy with far more assists than goals, but this year has been different. At least in looking at his latest hot streak. As of today, Crosby is on pace for a career high in goals (43). Which produces a bigger wow effect when you consider that he was in possession of only 6 goals on November 18.

The bottom line is that both of these players has the potential and game breaking ability to be the best player in the world on any given day. Though this topic will probably be debated for years to come, why not just enjoy what we are seeing on a nightly basis…a “two-headed monster” that cares a lot less about personal statistics than it does about winning hockey games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Stats:

Malkin has picked up 16 points (4G 12A) on the power play, Crosby 14 (2G 12A).

Both players have registered a +13.

Each player is averaging over 22:00 minutes of ice time per game. Malkin – 22:20 Crosby – 22:43

Points Per Game: Malkin - 1.64 Crosby - 1.56

Though scoring a ton of points, neither player is in the top ten in shots on goal. Crosby is currently sitting in 12th place with 91 shots, while Malkin is all the way down in 24th with 85.

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Tyler Kennedy will miss four to six weeks with a sprained knee, it was announced by Ray Shero today according to a Penguins press release. Kennedy has been placed on injured reserve.