Claude Giroux Starts It and Finishes the Penguins

Win the opening faceoff, lay out Sidney Crosby, score a goal 32 seconds in, finish off the favored Penguins emphatically. Ladies and gentlemen, Claude Giroux very well may be the best hockey player in the entire world.



While that topic may be debatable, what is not is that Giroux was the best player on the ice pretty much every game in this series, and he was far, far better than Sideny Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined. Sure, he had help, particularly with the remarkable defensive play by Sean Couturier, Max Talbot and Eric Wellwood, but Claude dominated from the first shift on yesterday, disposing of the Pens and helping the Flyers become the first Eastern Conference team to advance. The man does it all, and he does it all without embellishing, whining and histrionics. He just goes out there and dominates. And the world just saw him dominate the two players many people consider the two best in the world.