NHL Playoffs: Sidney Crosby's Domination Makes Penguins Stanley Cup Favorites

When Sidney Crosby returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 15 after missing several months with a neck injury, many believed that his return to the NHL would make the Penguins the Stanley Cup favorites.

A closer look at Crosby's stats since his return make it hard to think the Penguins aren't the favorite to win hockey's ultimate prize in June.

Let's break down why the Penguins are the Cup favorites with Crosby back in the lineup and playing like his old self.

Dependable offensively

Crosby has played in 20 games this season and has dominated offensively with 14 multipoint games.

Crosby has picked up right where he left off offensively and is making everyone around him so much better. Penguins winger Steve Sullivan's points-per-game average has increased with Crosby on his line, and winger Pascal Dupuis has notched a point in every single game since Crosby's comeback. Dupuis is averaging more than a point per game alongside Crosby and has scored six goals (25 percent of season total) with Crosby as his center.

New Jersey Devils backup goalie Johan Hedberg recently told ESPN.com what makes the Penguins forwards so tough to defend:

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The thing with these guys is they make everybody around them better. You have to respect the playmaking skills from Crosby, the power of Malkin and Staal's power. That creates a little more time for their surrounding group. They're also extremely quick at making things happen from plays that look innocent that end up a scoring chance. It's amazing how they can create things out of innocent-looking plays.

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Crosby's on-ice awareness is so amazing and his vision is tremendous. He knows where the puck should go before it hits the blade of his stick and is putting his teammates in positions to score. 

He also makes the Penguins powerplay nearly unstoppable, and it's a really important element for the team.

"A lot of times that’s the difference in hockey games, when you’re able to score on power plays and the way that we kill penalties," Crosby said after Thursday's 5-3 win over Boston. "We do such a great job with that, it’s a big boost if we can score on the power play."

With Crosby back in the fold, the Penguins have incredible depth at center. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are all tremendous players who can each score and be effective playmakers. Being strong down the middle makes everything for your hockey team.

His ability to dominate versus top teams

Crosby has been magnificent against the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season. He always brings it against the elite teams in the East, as evidenced by the chart below.

Crosby's ability to set the tone against top teams really gives the other Penguins players confidence going into important games that have a lot of pressure and expectations in them.

Top teams are so focused on stopping Crosby that they forget about the other quality forwards on the Penguins. Crosby's linemates, Sullivan and Dupuis, are fully capable of scoring a huge playoff goal because they will benefit from the attention Crosby is receiving from the opposing team.

Crosby doesn't have to dominate individually to really help the Penguins be successful in the postseason.

Crosby is a proven playoff performer

Crosby has a career playoff average of 1.32 points per game, which is absolutely phenomenal. The Penguins averaged only two goals per game in their seven-game first-round series loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.

Losing Malkin and Crosby for the playoffs was the difference for Pittsburgh in that series. In Games 5-7 of that series, Pittsburgh scored only four goals, including a 1-0 Game 7 loss.

Crosby raises his game in the playoffs and never fails to show up when the game matters most.

Pittsburgh is 8-4-1 with Crosby back in the lineup and 6-2-1 against teams currently in the playoff race in either conference.

With Crosby on the ice, the Penguins will score goals and put a lot of pressure on their opponents to match that scoring output. If you get down early on the Penguins, it's so tough to comeback because you cannot take chance offensively or players like Crosby will burn you.

Sure, the Penguins have their weaknesses. They aren't as physical as the Bruins, Rangers, or Flyers, and their defensive depth isn't outstanding.

With a healthy Crosby, the Penguins, who were already a fantastic team without him, now have the luxury of adding the best player in the world to their lineup.

Sidney Crosby elevates the Pittsburgh Penguins in so many ways, but his offensive abilities make them the Stanley Cup favorites this season.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.