PITTSBURGH — You might have heard Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby had a great day Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings. Malkin scored a hat trick and finished with four points. Crosby had a goal and two assists. The Penguins crushed Detroit, 11-2, a pretty nice tune-up for their rematch against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Maybe you didn't hear what Toronto's Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner did later Sunday night in a 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers. Matthews scored his NHL-best 48th goal. Marner had three assists to become the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to get to 300 career assists.
And maybe you didn't hear what Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid did for Edmonton against Calgary the night before. Draisaitl had a hat trick and a four-point game. McDavid added two assists. The Oilers still lost, 9-5.
What a weekend it was for NHL stars, old and young.
I'm thinking we're pretty lucky here.
That isn't to say Malkin and Crosby are better players. They aren't at this stage of their career. Matthews is a favorite to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and has averaged 41 goals a season since coming into the NHL in 2016-17. McDavid was No. 1 in points this season with 97 going into Monday's night game against Arizona and ranked fourth on the all-time points-per-game list with 1.42. Draisaitl had 94 points this season, including 47 goals.
Matthews, McDavid and Draisaitl are fabulous players.
The reason we're so lucky is because Malkin and Crosby have been able to use their terrific individual success to lift the Penguins to the highest of heights.
Do you realize Matthews and Marner have been in the NHL since that 2016-17 season and that Toronto has yet to win a playoff series with them? It won't be favored to win one this spring, either, because of ongoing goaltending issues.
Do you realize Draisaitl and McDavid have been in the league since 2015-16 and that Edmonton has won just one postseason series with them? The Oilers missed the playoffs in three of their six seasons and are no lock to make it this spring.
Crosby and Malkin have been much more successful, much more quickly.
The two have been teammates since the 2006-07 season. They went to the Stanley Cup final in 2007-08 and won the whole thing in 2008-09. They added two more Cups in 2016 and 2017.
We really have been damn lucky.
The Penguins' achievements in the regular season with Crosby and Malkin also have been extraordinary. The team is headed to the postseason for the 16th consecutive year, the longest active streak in North American sports. Its record when Crosby and Malkin both play in a game is 486-256-81, according to Penguins historian Bob Grove. What's a crying shame is that Crosby or Malkin or both have missed 401 out of a possible 1,224 regular-season games because of injury or illness. That means they've both played in just 67.2% of the team's games. Feel free to feel robbed in that sense.
It's not surprising the Penguins won Sunday when Crosby and Malkin both scored goals. The team is 94-10-3 when that happens. It's nice to think you were in the Uptown rink to see their magic or at least caught it on television.
Mike Sullivan hasn't just called Crosby and Malkin "generational talents." He has said he considers them to be two of the best players of all time.
Do you feel like arguing?
Crosby ranks 42nd on the NHL's all-time goals list with 510 and is tied for 23rd on the points list with 1,394. Malkin is tied for 15th on the points-per-game list with 1.17.
Both are locks for the Hall of Fame.
The point of this isn't to diminish the accomplishments of Matthews, McDavid and Draisaitl. They likely will join Crosby and Malkin in the Hall one day. It's not as if they don't have a chance to still lead their team to postseason success. The Penguins didn't make the playoffs until Mario Lemieux's fifth season in 1988-89 and didn't win the first of two consecutive Cups until his seventh season in 1990-91.
All I'm saying is there is no guarantees for Matthews, McDavid and Draisaitl despite their individual brilliance. They still have a long, long way to go to match Crosby and Malkin.
