The Puck Stops Here

Since an early point in the playoffs, I have been picking Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins as the playoff MVP. However, he slowed down at the end of the Philadelphia series. He only had two points in the final four games of that series. That leaves a five-way race for the playoff top scorer including Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk all within two points of one another. I think Zetterberg is the current playoff MVP. His 21 points is tied for the playoff lead and he sports an impressive +15 +/- rating to go with it. It would take an unlikely defensive final series for a defender such as Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Gonchar or Niklas Kronvall or a goalie in Chris Osgood or Marc-Andre Fleury to win the Conn Smythe given the offensive performances we have seen so far.