Powered up - 12-02-08
As you may have noticed, Eveni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are having pretty fair seasons from a stastical standpoint:
Having two players at the top of the league's scoring race is obviously a pretty impressive feat, especially when you consider the Penguins' power play has been having so much trouble as of late.
But in all reality, Crosby's and Malkin's point totals have benefitted a great deal from the team's misfiring power play. Compared to the top 15 scorers in the league, Malkin and Crosby generate a pretty high percentage of their point totals with a man advantage:
| Player, Team |
Points | Power-Play Points |
Percentage of overall points from the power play |
| Evgeni Malkin, Penguins | 39 | 15 | 38.5 |
| Sidney Crosby, Penguins | 34 | 12 | 35.3 |
| Simon Gagne, Flyers | 31 | 8 | 25.8 |
| Ryan Getzlaf, Ducks | 31 | 13 | 41.9 |
| Alex Ovechkin, Capitals | 30 | 9 | 30.0 |
| Marc Savard, Bruins | 30 | 9 | 30.0 |
| Jarome Iginla, Flames | 29 | 14 | 48.3 |
| Patrick Kane, Blackhawks | 28 | 11 | 39.3 |
| Marian Hossa, Red Wings | 27 | 9 | 33.3 |
| Alexander Semin, Capitals | 27 | 6 | 22.2 |
| Devin Setoguchi, Sharks | 27 | 6 | 22.2 |
| Mikko Koivu, Wild | 27 | 12 | 44.4 |
| Patrick Marleau, Sharks | 26 | 4 | 15.4 |
| Corey Perry, Ducks | 26 | 10 | 38.5 |
| Joe Thornton, Sharks | 26 | 9 | 34.6 |
(All totals are through Monday's games.)
-Here are those players listed in order of the percentages:
| Player, Team |
Percentage of overall points from the power play |
| Iginla | 48.3 |
| Koivu | 44.4 |
| Getzlaf | 41.9 |
| Kane | 39.3 |
| Malkin | 38.5 |
| Perry | 38.5 |
| Crosby | 35.3 |
| Thornton | 34.6 |
| Hossa | 33.3 |
| Ovechkin | 30.0 |
| Savard | 30.0 |
| Gagne | 25.8 |
| Semin | 22.2 |
| Setoguchi | 22.2 |
| Marleau | 15.4 |
-What do these lists prove? We hope they illustrated the importance of Crosby and Malkin but we really have no idea. We just want our paycheck on Thursday and we figured this would be a good way to get it.
(Photo: Peter Diana/Post-Gazette)