Mirtle: Penguins need to lean on Crosby more than ever

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Two games into the postseason, the battered Pittsburgh Penguins haven't laid down and rolled over. They haven't been outclassed or dramatically outplayed.

And that's a huge accomplishment.

Pittsburgh heads into Monday's Game 3 tied in its series with the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers despite missing an incredible four defencemen to injury. They weren't merely underdogs coming in; almost no one gave them a chance against Henrik Lundqvist and Co. given the way they limped into the playoffs.

But what's been remarkable about this series is the Penguins have hung in despite spending a ridiculous 22 minutes – or 20 per cent of the series – on the penalty kill.

That obviously hurts because you aren't winning many games when you're down a man 13 more minutes than your opponent every couple of games.

But it's hurt more because it's meant Sidney Crosby hasn't been on the ice.

Crosby broke through with two pivotal goals on Saturday, making the impact he couldn't in Game 1, but through two games he has averaged only 18 minutes a night. Tied for ninth among NHL forwards in ice time during the regular season with 20 minutes a game, Crosby has played less than players such as Alex Killorn, Jiri Hudler and 30-some others so far in the postseason.

The main reason is Crosby doesn't typically kill penalties. And the Penguins have done a whole lot of that – to the point that his sometimes-linemate Dan Winnik played more than nine minutes (!) short-handed in Game 2's win.

That's kept their most dangerous weapon largely on the bench, watching on.

The obvious solution here for Pittsburgh is to stop taking penalties, most of which are coming from the Penguins forwards and not their fill-in D. Failing that, they've started to give Crosby a little ice time on the PK, where he had played only 20 seconds a game all year – primarily in the final seconds of kills.

"He's played on the penalty kill more as a depth player for us," Penguins coach Mike Johnston said, adding that it depends who gets sent to the box. "But the big thing for me still is he plays 200 feet [at even strength]. His battle in our zone was as hard as it was in the offensive zone."

Crosby has never played a ton short-handed in his entire career. Coaches have always preferred to save him for the power play, which makes sense given his abilities there would seem to provide more of an edge over a replacement than they would on the PK.

But to what degree is that true? And should he be killing penalties in games such as these, where the Penguins are in the box a huge percentage of the game, simply to keep him on the ice?

If you look at Crosby's 378 minutes short-handed in his career, it's a portrait of domination. The Penguins have only been scored on 31 times – or less than once every six full two-minute spans – and have generated 10 goals, meaning they've been twice as likely to score on the PK with him out there.

Pittsburgh's shot differentials are also much better with Crosby killing penalties than not: 14 shots for per 60 minutes compared to 8.2 and 45 shots against per 60 compared to 51.5.

Overall, Crosby's impact on the PK (a 2.3 goal differential improvement per 60 minutes) is almost as dramatic as his impact on the PP (2.7), with his ability to generate goals and shots when down a man giving his team a big, unique advantage.

It's a small sample size, but it's a compelling one.

While rare, a few other NHL teams use their best players to kill penalties with success. Former Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella burned the Sedin twins out by overrelying on them last season, in one cautionary tale, but some of the better PPs in the league involve star players.

St. Louis uses David Backes liberally, for one. The Jets play first-liners Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little there plenty, and Colorado gives Ryan O'Reilly big PK minutes. Patrice Bergeron, meanwhile, remains the gold standard for elite play while short-handed for Boston.

It's not as though Crosby can't play huge minutes, either. He had 21-plus in 20 games this season, and with the Penguins beaten up, they need him out there as much as possible to have a chance against the Rangers.

With no Kris Letang or Christian Ehrhoff, Pittsburgh is running its breakout through its centres more than ever, and that's obviously preferable if it's Crosby or Evgeni Malkin on the ice.

They're a completely different team when they are.

Crosby, in particular, can make that impact on the penalty kill as well as anywhere else, which is one adjustment Johnston should look for if it appears his team is going to be in the box as much as they have been so far.

Round 1: By The Numbers

Here's a grab bag of trivia on the 16 teams playing for the Stanley Cup in Round 1.

The tallest team in the playoffs is… Winnipeg at an average height of 6-foot-2. You can really see their size in their first round series with the Ducks, who are also one of the NHL's biggest teams. It's a war along the boards, without much extra room and all those big bodies.

But Washington has the edge in average weight though, at a whopping 211 pounds.

The Blackhawks have the designation as both the oldest and smallest team, based on an average of the skaters that have appeared in games so far. And Ottawa and Tampa are the two youngest teams, with both at an average age of about 26. (Los Angeles won its first Cup with an average age of 27, one of the youngest teams to do so.)

Oldest player in the playoffs: Kimmo Timonen, the only 40-year-old to have dressed. Youngest: Sam Bennett, the only 18-year-old. Average age of all skaters is 27.9.

Percentage of playoff players that are Canadian? 45.6 per cent, one of the lowest figures ever. Americans make up the second-most at 25 per cent but that leaves a very large European contingent, led by Vladimir Tarasenko, who should garner more leaguewide attention as a rising star if St. Louis goes on a deep run.

The top three goalies through the first two games of the postseason? Frederik Andersen, Eddie Lack and Jake Allen. Which proves once again it's been a strange year for goalies.

The top possession team in the postseason so far? The Ducks, who've done an excellent job of limiting the effectiveness of the Jets at even strength in the first two games. Anaheim's depth forwards have certainly won them that battle while Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry have done the damage offensively.

The top possession players? Henrik Sedin and Steven Stamkos among forwards (75 and 72 per cent) and Dan Hamhuis and Keith Yandle on defence (69 and 67 per cent).