The power play has been perhaps the Penguins' biggest catalyst this season. The man-advantage unit ranks first in the NHL with a 26.5 conversion percentage, and top with 43 power-play goals. The PP is particularly deadly away from home, cashing in a league-high 28.2 percent of the time.
Phil Kessel leads the NHL in power-play points with 29, followed by Crosby in second with 24, and Evgeni Malkin fourth with 23.
Malkin ranks third in the league with 10 power-play goals. Kessel is fifth with eight, while Crosby and Patric Hornqvist are tied for 10th with seven.
The Penguins are five-for-14 (35.7 percent) on the power play during their current four-game victory streak. They are 12-for-34 (35.3 percent) over the last 11 games, winning seven of those.
"We're moving the puck around well, and guys are moving," Kessel said. "When we do that, we've got some pretty good players."
The Penguins' power play operates mostly by the book, and using familiar components. Hornqvist, for example, jams the blue paint.
But while Kris Letang up top is the unit's de facto quarterback, on many nights the power play runs through Kessel on the left half-wall. Long renowned as a shooter, Kessel's playmaking skills sparkle with the man advantage. The Penguins certainly have finishers, and Crosby's deflections are sublime.
Coach Mike Sullivan sees grit as a big part of the power play.
"It starts with their work ethic, their willingness to retrieve loose pucks, and their attention to detail," Sullivan said. "They can create so much just off loose-puck battles. When teams try to be over-aggressive, our guys can make one play to beat the pressure, and usually it ends up in a glorious chance.
"When we're hunting pucks, and working together to retrieve, the puck moves, and people move, and they're so intuitive.
"There aren't too many teams that put out the types of threats our group has. When they're firing on all cylinders, they're hard to defend."
Right now, the Penguins' conversion percentage would be best in team history. The 1995-96 power play, featuring Mario Lemieux on the left half-wall, netted 25.9 percent of its chances, currently the franchise high. The Pens have a long way to go to own the NHL record, set by Montreal in 1977-78 (31.9 percent).
But with such a talented unit, better is always possible.
"We're getting open," Kessel said. "We're reading each other well, making plays and shooting pucks. It's clicking right now."
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).
