The Pittsburgh Penguins have a wonderful opportunity this evening to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals with a victory over the Washington Capitals. Washington has had the edge in play the past two games (especially Game 3) but they have not been able to solve Matt Murray.
Today it looks like the Penguins will be icing a better lineup than they did in Game 4. Returning from suspension is Kris Letang and returning from injury is Eric Fehr. Letang's return to the lineup is obviously a big deal, but by getting Eric Fehr back they can go back to the lines the team was using for most of the playoffs.
Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy just wrote a glowing article about Kris Letang
kris letang has been the best player in the playoffs so far. https://t.co/nTf6ebRyXf
— yung intelligence (@twolinepass) May 6, 2016
During the day it was announced that Sidney Crosby will be joining Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn as one of the Hart Trophy finalists. Crosby is a very deserving finalist but the first two months of the season are going to cost him the award. Once the shackles were taken off of him with the coaching change he reminded everybody that he is still the best player in the league.
Here are the 20 game rolling averages for 5v5 points/60 among the finalists (Crosby red, Kane green, Benn blue)
Here are their Score-Adjusted Fenwick numbers
Crosby won't win the award, but he still had a great year and the future looks brighter than it did way back in November. I can say with confidence that Crosby would be happier with a long postseason run than the Hart Trophy and the odds are looking good for that playoff run.
It isn't just Sid with some good news. Geno is going to be a Dad.
РадоÑÑ‚Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð½Ð¾Ð²Ð¾ÑÑ‚ÑŒ! Ðнна КаÑтерова и Евгений Малкин ждут ребенка https://t.co/y9a2MogHmS pic.twitter.com/NxTa6RCKIN
— Sovsport.ru (@sovsport) May 7, 2016
Just think of the great summer vacations that kid is going to have. Congrats to both Geno and Anna.
Thanks for reading!