Expectations were high for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they certainly would have made a deep run in the playoffs this year, except for the fact that the two best players went down with injury, and it caught up with them against Tampa Bay in the first round. Had he not been rattled by a David Steckel hit in the Winter Classic, Sidney Crosby would almost certainly be in the Hart Trophy talk this year. His absence was felt most in the first round series. Any of Pittsburgh's failures cannot be put on Marc-Andre Fleury, who arguably had his best all around year. He was the reason Pittsburgh was still in the hunt for a top three seed in the playoffs. Paul Martin provided some capable defense, which allowed Pittsburgh to unload Alex Goligoski to Dallas in exchange for James Neal.
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