With Sidney Crosby Out, Evgeni Malkin Can Save the Day

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

No Sidney Crosby. No Kris Letang. No Matt Murray. There's no more common postseason phrase in hockey culture "next man up," but at this point of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are running out of men. Never has a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series felt so tenuous. So who will be the hero?

The weight of the quest for a second straight Stanley Cup for the Penguins will fall directly on one man's shoulders: Evgeni Malkin. But if the Penguins are going to stave off a comeback by the Washington Capitals, can they really rely upon someone considered by the NHL to be a worse player than Jonathan Toews?

As you may recall, the NHL released its list of the 100 greatest players in league history this season and for some inexplicable reason Malkin failed to make the cut. The Chicago Blackhawks featured three players from the list—Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith—and yet were swept out of the playoffs in the first round. Now the Penguins will try to become the first team in 19 years to win back-to-back titles by having the 101st-best player in NHL history carry them instead of Crosby.

The next four games, and beyond, are Malkin's chance to show he's just as good, if not better, than Toews, a player who has yet to eclipse 70 points in a season during his career.

Malkin has already been a beast during this year's playoffs. He has four goals and 15 points in eight games; his 1.88 points per game so far are the most in a postseason (that's admittedly only just started) since Mario Lemieux averaged 2.27 points over 15 games in 1992. Toews averaged 1.32 points per game in 2010, which may seem less impressive than what Malkin is doing now, but you have to remember the leadership and heart Toews brought with him that season.

Perhaps you are familiar with this narrative: Crosby is the best player in the world and Malkin is the best No. 2 center in the league. The idea is that Malkin only posts gaudy numbers because he has Crosby as a shield, absorbing all the tough matchups that allow Malkin to strike against lesser competition. It's probably the narrative that led to Malkin becoming Mr. 101 in the NHL's eyes.

In Game 3, with Crosby long since knocked out of the game, Malkin scored to bring the Penguins to within 2-1 with 1:53 left, then set up Justin Schultz's tying goal that forced overtime 48 seconds later. If you want to get petty and technical, Malkin has averaged more points per game without Crosby in the lineup than with him this postseason.

"Small sample size!" you're probably screaming. And you should. That's ridiculous.

You know what else is ridiculous? That Malkin has 66 goals and 88 assists in 118 games without Crosby in the lineup.

For his career, Malkin averages 1.18 points per game; without Crosby, that number jumps to 1.31, which matches what Crosby has averaged over his career.

So really, when Crosby hasn't been around, Malkin has become Crosby. It's like the movie Single White Female only Steven Weber doesn't have to be killed with a high heel for anyone to enjoy it.

Malkin is the player we take for granted for reasons that lack any sort of logic. When Crosby was limited to 22 games in 2011-12 because of a concussion, Malkin won the second of his Hart Trophies that weren't enough to get him ranked in the top 100. He put forth arguably his greatest season with 50 goals—a career-best—and 109 points in 75 games. Crosby was out for nearly 75 percent of the season, and Malkin averaged 1.45 points per game.

Now, with Crosby day-to-day due to another concussion, Malkin has the chance to drag the Penguins the final two and a half rounds to a third Stanley Cup in nine years. Two MVPs, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a Calder Trophy, and two scoring titles hasn't been enough to get the NHL to rank him on the level of Toews, so maybe that's what it will finally take to put Malkin over the "top 100 all-time" edge. At the very least, Malkin would be sure to win his second Conn Smythe Trophy—unless the Canadian media gives the award to Canadian goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in much the same way they stole it from Phil Kessel to give to Crosby last year.

Crosby's injury is devastating on a lot of levels. There's no guarantee he comes back from it the same player, or person, he used to be, if he comes back at all. There's also the shadow it will cast on a series that's guaranteed to see some sort of attempt at retribution. There's even the inevitable asterisk some will attach to any success the Capitals have going forward because it only began once Crosby left.

If anything good can come from this, it's the idea of the idiot doofuses who refused to give Malkin the credit and respect only reserved for a player who has failed to average a point per game during an 82-game regular season having to swallow their pride and acknowledge the Russian's greatness if he lugs the Penguins to a championship that should be out of their reach.

Of course, those same doofuses will find a way to blame Alex Ovechkin if the Capitals lose a series to a team without Crosby, Kris Letang, and Matt Murray. So, if the Penguins advance, the Blame Russians for a Team's Shortcomings world will remain in balance at best.

Then again, if people have to mention Malkin in the same breathless breaths as when they talk about the leadership of Toews, Shea Weber, and Mark Messier, even if it's at Ovechkin's expense, it will be worth it.