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Penguins emerge from doldrums looking like Cup contender
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The Pittsburgh Penguins have just one regulation loss since Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach earlier this year.
By Gene J. Puskar, AP
The Pittsburgh Penguins have just one regulation loss since Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach earlier this year. Allen has covered hockey for USA TODAY since 1986.

 2008-09 NHL SEASON
As the hockey world debates whether Evgeni Malkin is a better choice than Alex Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy, the better question is whether Malkin's Pittsburgh Penguins are a better team than they were last season.

Surprisingly, the answer may be "Yes."

Although the Penguins have had their struggles this season and weren't behaving like a playoff team when 2009 began, they now suddenly look like a prime contender.

Frankly, their situation has some similarity to last season in that the team was bumping along like a horse-drawn carriage on a cobblestone road until Malkin broke loose and carried the team on his back on a wild gallop into the playoffs. He's done it again this season, with a five-point effort against Atlanta giving him points in 13 of his last 16 games and creating league-wide banter about whether he, or his rival Ovechkin, is the NHL's best player right now.

The latest Malkin charge coincides with the Penguins' 9-0-2 run that sends a reminder to the hockey world that that this franchise came within two wins of being the NHL champions last season.

Malkin's race toward the NHL scoring championship is just one chapter of an interesting story that has developed since Dan Bylsma took over as the Penguins' coach. They have gone 11-1-3 with Bylsma behind the bench, and more importantly, they have rediscovered their identity.

Even when former coach Michel Therrien took the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, there was never a sense that there was harmony between the players in the coach. It's not necessary for a player to like a coach to have success, but a player must have some faith in the coach's ability to be a problem-solver, or a tactician, or at least have an understanding of the coach's vision for how the game should be played.

Players like clarity from a coach, and it's fair to say there was a haze that settled in between Therrien and his players.

There is less mystery to Bylsma's plan. He won over the players with a straight-forward approach. He's re-embraced the old-time Penguins offensive style that was signature of the Penguins in the Mario Lemieux era: Move the puck straight ahead. A quick transition. Two good passes. The puck is in the net. We don't need no stinkin' trap!

Bylsma's dog house seems smaller and has fewer guests than Therrien's. Clearly goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and center Jordan Staal seem to be playing more relaxed under Bylsma's command.

The Penguins are a very confident team right now, probably more confident and relaxed than they were last spring when they had playoff success.

The most amusing aspect of the Penguins' return to form is that Sidney Crosby has been reduced to a sidebar on this team. There's a surprising anti-Crosby sentiment that has risen up in the hockey world, and even in Pittsburgh one of the prime sports topics is whether Crosby needs to move out of Lemieux's house and have his father around less, so he can "grow up" and be the Penguins' leader. Based on fan emails received and website postings, the general impression seems to be that Crosby is having an "off" season.

Of course the humor in all of this is that he is the NHL's second-leading scorer, just 10 points behind Malkin, and he's played five fewer games than his teammate.

People seem to forget that Crosby is still only 21. Most of us would rather not think about what we were like when we were 21. There's a reason why a person isn't qualified to run for president until he or she is 35. There's a reason why marriages fail more often when people marry too young.

Sure, it is time for Crosby to move out of Lemieux's house if for no other reason than he's the Penguins captain and Lemieux is the team owner.

Teammates shouldn't be left to wonder what Lemieux and Crosby talk about at the dinner table. Knowing Lemieux the way I do, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that Mario isn't grilling Crosby about dressing room secrets. That's not Lemieux's style.

However, perception is reality in this world, and Crosby needs to buy a house to give the impression that he's more mature and independent.

But if he isn't ready to be more independent, give the kid a break. My observation is that he's reasonably well-grounded for a player who has been treated like a rock star since he turned 14.

Bunking at Lemieux's house isn't exactly a felony. Eating Cheerios with Lemieux's kids will not earn Crosby jail time. Not wanting to live by himself shouldn't be treated as a crime against humanity. Crosby's living accommodations shouldn't be this big of an issue, unless Crosby falls out of one of Lemieux's beds and sprains his knee.

The real adjustment for Crosby this season is growing accustomed to being second chair in the Penguins' orchestra. Crosby has always been Batman, and now he's Robin.

Malkin has been a better player than Crosby this season, and maybe he will continue to be a better player. It's too close to call right now between Malkin and Ovechkin for the Hart Trophy, but I do know that at the very worst, Crosby is still the third or fourth best player in the league. (There were a few weeks there that Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk was probably the NHL's best player)

My hunch is that throughout their careers there will be moments where Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin can all claim to be the best player in the game.

But that's why I believe this Penguins team may be better than last year's team. Malkin and Crosby are more experienced. Bylsma has the team playing with confidence and the team seems to believe in him. Fleury is more experienced than he was entering last spring's playoffs and Staal is an improved player.

The additions of Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin to play with Crosby also makes this team stronger. Although neither Kunitz or Guerin can match the danger level of Marian Hossa, who played with Crosby in last season's playoffs, an argument can be made that the line of Kunitz, Crosby and Guerin is far superior to last year's trio of Pascal Dupuis, Crosby and Hossa. Dupuis is a highly desirable role player, but he wasn't a top-line player.

Guerin and even Kunitz are also helping Crosby in the leadership department. There was a question about how No. 1 defenseman Sergei Gonchar would come back from his shoulder surgery, but he has rebounded well and now he is fresher going into the playoffs than he was last year.

The only negative for the Penguins heading into the playoffs is that the field looks stronger this season. The Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils both seem more menacing than the teams the Penguins mowed down last spring.

But both Crosby and Malkin are a year older and wiser than they were last year at this time. They know the path to the Stanley Cup Finals. And that ultimately will be more important than where Crosby sleeps every night.

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