There aren’t many individual trophies Evgeni Malkin has yet to earn. He is one of few players who has a Conn Smythe, Calder, Art Ross, Ted Lindsay, and Hart Trophy. The 2011-12 season was the one season where Sidney Crosby nearly missed the entire season. It provided an opening for Evgeni Malkin to show he was just as capable of being the 1C on the Penguins. For the first time Evgeni Malkin was afforded the best quality of teammate the team had to offer. In normal years Sidney Crosby will usually get who he wants and that usually includes the best winger on the team. Malkin also received a heavy dose of both Paul Martin and Kris Letang. When you combine the quality of teammate with Malkin being 25 and in the prime of his career you get his career best year. Malkin finished with a career high 50 goals and won the Art Ross Trophy with 109 points. He also earned both the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award for the only time in his illustrious career.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Malkin did all of this while coming off of a major knee injury sustained the year before. It was a remarkable return.
Rounding out the trio was James Neal. His career best season was also in 2011-12 and his shooting ability was at the top of the reasons for his great season. He finished with 40 goals and 81 points which are both career highs.
While the eventual trade of James Neal to Nashville was highly beneficial to the Penguins it doesn’t mean his time with Pittsburgh was void of success. Neal was the perfect match for Malkin and Kunitz who both played like bulldogs and created shooting space for Neal’s electric wrist shot. His bumper role on the power play led to a league leading 18 power play goals. His release was as good as anybody in the game at the time. You felt like any shot Neal took had the potential to go in.
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