Since the 2011-12 Playoffs when the Flyers ousted the Penguins in six games, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have trended upwards in possession. In the recent seris where they defeated the Blue Jackets in six games, Crosby did not score a goal, and Malkin did not score a goal until Game 6, where he had a hat trick. But possession-wise and advanced stats-wise, they're just fine.
In the Blue Jackets series, Crosby and Malkin's only games sub-50% were Game 4, when they sat on the 3-0 lead and lost the game in OT.
Other thoughts on this:
- Dominating possession and depth scoring is the thing the Penguins missed all season long, and this is a benefit to Brandon Sutter's series and Marcel Goc's return for Games 5 and 6.
- How scary is it for the league that Sidney Crosby didn't score a goal but is playing his best possession dominant hockey in the past three seasons?
- Evgeni Malkin just let it loose last night. Felt like he was playing that kind of hockey where he couldn't be stopped for the first time in the playoffs since 2009.