Crosby's Penguins are the Best Team in Hockey

In their last 30 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins are 24-4-2. That is just plain ridiculous. The Penguins have steamrolled through the latter part of January, all of February, and all of March so far. As if things couldn't get any better, superstar Sidney Crosby returned to the ice for his first home game in more than three months tonight. How did the Penguins celebrate? They gave goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury the night off, but no need to worry. The offense netted eight goals. James Neal recorded his second NHL hat trick, Evgeni Malkin had five points (2 goals and 3 assists), and Crosby added four assists.

The Penguins are playing lights out hockey right now. Fleury leads the NHL wins and is among the leaders across the statline. Malkin extended his NHL points lead to 93. The Penguins are now only a point behind the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. It is amazing to consider that they have done this despite being decimated by injuries, particularly those to Crosby.

If Crosby can remain healthy and in top form, there is no reason in my mind why the Penguins shouldn't be considered the best team in hockey. They are on fire as a team and that is unlikely to change before the playoffs, which are only three weeks away. Malkin should win MVP of the league. Fleury should also be among the favorites for the Vezina Trophy (best goaltender). The bottomline is that those trophies don't matter. All the Penguins are focused on is winning games, with the ultimate goal being to win the trophy that does matter, Lord Stanley's Cup.