Malkin wins Conn Smythe Trophy

Without any doubts, Evgeni Malkin played an essential role in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ post-season success. In fact, he was not only the top scorer in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals but also led the overall scoring sheet in the playoffs with 14 goals and 22 assists for a total of 36 points. Thus it is no surprise that Malkin was nominated as playoff MVP after Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup.

Considering how last year went for the Penguins it certainly is a big relief for Malkin to lead his team to the Stanley Cup as well as claim the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player. In fact, Evgeni Malkin only had 1 goal and 2 assists in last year’s NHL Stanley Cup Finals when the Red Wings beat the Penguins in six games. This season Malkin came out of the locker room every game in the playoffs ready to compete. His tremendous 36 points post-season performance was the most any player put up since Wayne Gretzky scored 40 in the 1993 playoffs for the L.A. Kings. However, one cannot praise Malkin without talking about Pittsburgh’s other star forward Sidney Crosby who had a spectacular post-season as well. More specifically, the NHL playoff scoring lead was constantly going back and forth between the two until Crosby got injured in the finals and had to sit on the bench. The synergy between Malkin and Crosby led to an incredible performance of the Penguins who often relied completely on their two star forwards to make things happen on the offensive side. Taking everything into consideration, Evgeni Malkin indeed was the appropriate Conn Smythe candidate with Sidney Crosby not being far away.

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