Pittsburgh Penguins: Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal Are Post-Olympic MVPs

Say what? No Sidney Crosby in the mix?

While I feel Crosby has been clearly the Penguins' overall MVP for the 2009-2010 season, the recent play of Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Staal have kept a flat Penguins team at a top four position in the Eastern Conference following the Olympic break.

March has typically been kind to the Pens, but it has been a bit of a struggle this season.

Maybe the team is exhausted from two back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals appearances, maybe the Olympic performers are starting to feeling the extra games they played while everyone else took a break, or maybe it's none of the above or all of the above.

Either way, the Pens haven't been playing their brand of hockey after starting the post-Olympic push 4-0.

But despite the team's overall struggles, Dupuis and Staal have put on an impressive display in those 15 games. Much of this display is their defensive abilities while maintaining a consistent scoring touch.

Dupuis has put up solid numbers (5G 4A +2) in March which is definitely more than what was expected of him when he came to Pittsburgh in the 2007-2008 Marian Hossa deal.

In fact, his 18G and 14A on the season are his second best in his NHL career and there are still five games in hand.

While Dupuis is known for the strength of his shot, most of his goals have been within 10 feet of the net.  These goals have been tip-ins, deflections, and rebound goals.

These are the types of goals Head Coach Dan Bylsma wants to see: goals that come from consistent pressure and peppering of the net. Why? Because it means his system is working.

The evidence of his working system is a 34.5-pound silver cup with his name on it.

Bylsma has since rewarded Dupuis for his recent play by giving him a spot on Crosby's line, where he has found some good chemistry.

Staal has also put up 5G and 4A but upped Dupuis with a +4 rating. In the season, his 49 points are one away from tying his career high.

Although he has been putting up good numbers (which I assume will become personal record numbers), Staal is often overshadowed by the two great centers ahead of him in the lineup.

With one of them, Evgeni Malkin, out with an injury, Staal was given an opportunity to show off his clutch play.

He's been setting up and finishing goals, and laying out the hits, all while remaining healthy the entire season. Make no mistake, Staal is a huge part of this team and Bylsma has depended on him many times to pull the rest of the team out of holes.

Numbers-wise, Dupuis and Staal have been relatively unimpressive the entire season, arguably the last 15 games as well. This is because their "MVP status" comes not from the numbers they put up, but the numbers they take away from opposing teams.

I'm talking about the penalty kill, the Pens' secret weapon of late.

A high-aggressive tone can be a good or bad thing for certain teams. When overall play is good, aggressive forechecks will create turnovers and drive teams to take penalties and destroy any momentum they attempt to build.

On the flipside, this method can go bad if the team isn't finding that aggression through hard work but through impatience and frustration that brings penalties instead of draw them.

The latter is where the Pens have fallen.

In 15 games, the Pens have taken 57 penalties, including a five-minute major. Only six goals have resulted from those power plays, none from the major penalty.

An 89.3 percent kill in that span, 84.4 percent on the season.

These numbers have been crucial to many of the team's wins. Some of these penalties have come in overtime or in the final minutes of the game with the score tied.

Dupuis and Staal are huge parts of the clutch penalty killers. Not only do they play smartly to keep the score unchanged, but they have also become offensive threats when the opposing power play becomes sloppy.

The result is a penalty kill that sometimes has better chances than the power play.

To further emphasize the clutchness of the penalty kill is the fact that the Pens have scored 42 goals and allowed 40 since the Olympics.

With the numbers that close, special teams become major factors and since the Pens' power play is still hurting, then the penalty killers needs to step up, which they clearly have.

I would even go so far as to say that the entire penalty killing unit has saved the Pens' season.

Nevertheless, with the swaying needs of clutch goals and timely defense for the Pens, both Dupuis and Staal have been able to answer both calls.

Their offensive and defensive smarts have kept the Pens' noses above the surface while they figure out how to find their game before the playoffs begin.