Sidney Crosby had an MVP-caliber season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins couldn't give him any help.
Sidney Crosby had an MVP-caliber season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins couldn't give him any help.
PITTSBURGH – With one game remaining in the 2023-24 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will roll on without the Penguins for the second consecutive season.
More disappointing than the Penguins missing out on the playoffs, Sidney Crosby will see another outstanding season go to waste. If the Penguins managed to complete their historic playoff run, there was fair reason for Crosby to receive MVP votes.
While it’s still possible Crosby can steal a few votes from a few front-runners, the 2023-24 season will mostly be seen as a letdown in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins have one game remaining, and Crosby is just a point shy of equaling his total from last year. In 81 games played, Crosby has scored a team-leading 42 goals, 50 assists, and 92 points. It was his third 40-goal season and eighth time surpassing 90 total points.
Along the way, Crosby continued to re-write the history books by eclipsing 1,000 assists, climbing into the top 10 of all-time points, and tying Wayne Gretzky with his 19th point-per-game season.
At the age of 36, there was no slowing down Crosby as he and Evgeni Malkin will likely play in all 82 games together for the second consecutive year. They will be joined by other leaders like Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson who also appeared in every game this season.
The Penguins were a mostly healthy team in 2023-24. Key faces never missed a game, and veterans fought off age as much as they could. Crosby had one of the best seasons ever put together by a 36-year-old, yet most of the team let him down.
For the second straight year, the Penguins wasted a phenomenal season from their captain.
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