Mark Madden: Sidney Crosby's energy, effort have fueled overachieving Penguins

Sidney Crosby has had better seasons. More productive. Higher numbers.

He’s previously won the best of the NHL’s awards. This year, he’s being discussed for mere Miss Congeniality-level hardware.

He has three Stanley Cup rings. The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t come close this year.

But if Crosby drags the decidedly meh Penguins across the finish line to a playoff berth after they were dead in the water two weeks ago, it could be his finest hour.

Make no mistake, the Penguins’ current 6-0-2 run is Crosby’s doing. He’s got seven goals and nine assists in that span while imbuing the Penguins with a 200-foot energy and effort that’s fueled their overachieving.

Evgeni Malkin has rediscovered something he’d lacked, perhaps parental guidance with mom and pop present. He’s got six goals and three assists in the last eight contests, often popping up at crucial times.

Alex Nedeljkovic isn’t a great goalie, but he’s mostly been a winning goalie while making eight straight starts. He makes big stops.

Injury has forced the electricity of youth into the lineup, and about time. It’s paid dividends.

But this is so very largely about the captain, who’s operating at a level of insanity that usually requires a straitjacket. If Crosby were made to don one of those, he’d find a way to score without using his arms. It’s Houdini SZN for the Penguins.

Crosby’s explosion (and the Penguins’) follows a period of mourning for the trade of Jake Guentzel, who could yet wind up a playoff foe.

At one point, Crosby went 11 games without a goal. Crosby’s occasionally going to look like he’s 36, one supposes. But that was prolonged.

Crosby hated losing Guentzel, who might be his all-time preferred winger. More than anything, Crosby dislikes change. But he evidently got over it.

The Penguins could have given up. The standings, eye test and future draft positioning dictated a certain logic to that. But they didn’t.

Well, Crosby didn’t. The rest followed.

And now the Penguins somehow are controlling their own destiny after getting a lot of outside help over the last two weeks.

The Penguins are not a good team, especially up front. They have maybe three legit top-six forwards.

Their defensive lapses mean no lead is safe, as witnessed by blowing multi-goal margins to lose at Denver and Columbus during their 6-0-2 streak. They squandered a 4-1 lead to visiting Tampa Bay on Saturday before Michael Bunting’s late goal snatched a 5-4 victory. Even during their torrid run, the Penguins have managed to abjectly stink for significant stretches.

But the standings don’t lie.

If they ever did, though, it’s now. Besides Florida, there’s not a team to be trusted in the entire Eastern Conference. It’s easy to think that the Penguins would be wasting eight days if they made the postseason, and that’s likely true, but perhaps not.

Because then Crosby would be playing postseason games.

Crosby clinched averaging a point per game on the season last Monday with two goals and a helper in a 5-2 win on the road against the New York Rangers. That’s 19 straight seasons at a point per. That’s every single one of Crosby’s campaigns. That ties Wayne Gretzky, who also did it in his first 19 campaigns.

Being unique is what defines the truly great.

Crosby is the best grinder ever. (He hates being called that.)

Nobody ever has played better on his backhand. Or deflected the puck more effectively.

Is Crosby the most consistent player in NHL history? That’s what the stats say. Watching his entire career confirms.

Will the Penguins make the playoffs?

It requires things to keep going prodigiously right. The Penguins close their season April 17 at their traditional bogey team, the New York Islanders. The Islanders have won four straight, like the Penguins, and are among those the Penguins are battling for third place in the Metropolitan Division as well as the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

So, yes or no: Will the Penguins make the playoffs?

You don’t want to hear what I think. Let’s wait for Crosby’s answer.